The New Era of Remnant
by I Am The Prophet
Summary: "Destiny...Fate...Dreams...These unstoppable ideals are held deep in the heart of man. As long as there are people who seek freedom in this life. These things shall not vanish from the earth." One night, RWBY goes on an adventure on the high seas with the Straw Hat crew. When they come back, little did they knew that Remnant is already about to enter a new era of pirates.
1. Chapter 1

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 1: The Straw Hats of Remnant**

**[~][~]**

"And I said, now that's a Katana!" Ruby said as she and her team entered their dorm at Beacon Academy. They had gotten back from combat practice for the Vytal festival, which meant they are all tuckered out. The window showed that it is late at night, which means it's time to hit the hay.

"You need to get better jokes," Blake groaned. "I know that won't happen with Yang."

"Hey!" Yang protested. "My jokes are funny! It's not my fault that you don't understand good comedy."

"Good comedy?" Weiss asked. "What about my joke when we're fighting Torchwick and that girl?"

"That was different," Yang said darkly as her mind drifted back to Neopolitan and the crime boss escaping.

"At least it was better than yours!"

"Alright, guys, enough," Ruby broke it up before it could escalate. "Let's just get changed and sleep. We have a lot to cover tomorrow."

Each of them changed into their sleepwear. Ruby walked over to the bunk bed that she and Weiss shared and climbed up to the top. When her head hit the pillow, she felt something small and hard. Sitting up, she turned and picked up the object. It was a gold coin with a stylized 'B' on the center. She assumed that it's some kind of currency mark.

"Hey, guys? Can you check your pillows?"

"Why?" Weiss asked before moving to the bottom bunk. "Hey, what's this coin doing here? Is this actual gold?"

"Gold coins?" Yang asked. She quickly ran over to her bed and found hers. Her eyes sparkled. "How much do you think these coins cost?"

"The short version or the long version?"

"The first thing."

"A lot of Lien," Weiss answered. "You'd be surprised at how much people in Atlas are willing to pay for these."

"So, we're rich!" Yang hooted. "Tomorrow, I know a great place where we might be able to sell these."

"Wait, we still don't know who put this here," Blake said as her amber eyes examined hers. "Who do you think would put these here? I can't think of anyone with these coins."

"Me neither," Ruby said. She put hers underneath her pillow. "Let's think about it in the morning. I'm beaten."

"Good point," Yang said as she stowed hers as well. "We need time to decide what we're going to spend them on after all."

"I already know what I'm going to get," Blake said, her thoughts brought to fish. Her favorite type of food.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Weiss scolded as she laid down on her bed. "We need to figure out our money plan when we sell them. The last thing we need is you three spending your money willy-nilly!"

"I know I won't," Ruby mumbled.

"You spent most of your money on cookies!"

Eventually, they all fell into a deep sleep. A few moments later, the coins beneath their pillows began to glow a golden light. It didn't seem to have disturbed them.

* * *

_"Luffy, will you stop doing that!?"_

_ "What did I do?"_

_ "You know what you did!"_

_ On the deck of the Going Merry, an argument is occurring. Sanji, the cook, is yelling at Luffy, who sat cross-legged with his face downcast. Zoro is sleeping on the deck with his arms crossed beneath him. Eventually, the sound of their bickering drew the ire of someone else._

_ "Will you two keep it down!" Nami, their ships Navigator, shouted as she slammed the door to the ship's quarters. "I'm trying to work here!"_

_ "My apologies Nami, my dear!" Sanji said as his eyes became hearts. "It's just that Luffy tried to eat one of your tangerines again."_

_ "Again?!" Nami stormed down the stairs and made her way to Luffy. She grabbed him by the cheek hard. "Do you have a death wish or something? What would give you the idea to eat one of my tangerines?"_

_ "We can always get more," Luffy said, oblivious to the pain that she was inflicting upon him._

_ "That's not the point!" Nami shouted as she knocked him on the head. "We're wasting precious Berries at this rate."_

_ "But I'm hungry!"_

_ At this point, Zoro slowly opened his eyes. Over the sounds of his friends arguing, he picked out a faint sound._

_ "Hey," Zoro called out. Immediately, his crewmates stopped squabbling and turned to him. Luffy had a few bumps on his head, but he didn't appear to show any signs of being hurt. "You guys hear that?"_

_ "Hear what?" Nami asked, her tone becoming calmer and more composed._

_ "It sounds like…screaming…" Zoro said, much to their confusion._

_ "What are you talking about moss-head?" Sanji said, cupping his ear. "I don't hear anything."_

_ "Hey, guys!"_

_ Everyone looked up to see Usopp, their long-nosed sniper, up in the crow's nest. He was looking up in the sky with a hand to provide shade to his eyes. He pointed a finger up._

_ "Somethings falling from the sky!" He shouted. "Four somethings!"_

_ "Huh?" Everybody focused their attention to where Usopp was pointing at. Sure enough, they can make out four blurs of a different color. _

_Red. White. Black. Yellow._

_As it became easier to see them, they heard voices._

"_This is a dream! This has got to be a nightmare!"_

"_How did we end up in the sky!"_

"_Who cares, we're going die from this height!"_

"_Not like this! Not like this!"_

"_Are those people?" Nami shouted. "How did they get up there?"_

"_Who cares?" Zoro asked. "The fall's going to kill them if we don't do anything! Love Cook, you get the other side! Usopp and Nami get the others and hold on tight."_

"_On it!" Sanji shouted, ignoring the jabe at him, and grabbed Luffy's right side while Zoro grabbed his left. Together, they pulled him. Usopp quickly scaled down the crow's nest and joined in with Nami. Thanks to his devil fruit powers, they were able to stretch his body into a life net._

"_Hold it steady and don't let go…" Nami said. _

_Then, the four falling people hit the net, breaking their fall. They temporarily bounced up and fell back down again, this time on the hardwood floor of the upper deck. All four of them looked like they're dressed in sleepwear._

"_Oww…" The silver-eyed girl groaned, grabbing her head. "That hurt."_

"_Took the words out of my mouth," A white garbed girl groaned. "Where are we?"_

"_We appear to be at sea," A black-haired girl with a bow said. Amber eyes staring over the edge of the ship._

"_You got that right," Nami scolded. The four girls turn their attention to the occupants of the ship, who stood together in a row. "What are you guys thinking, falling out of the sky? While we're on the subject, how did you get up there?"_

_ The four girls jumped up and got defensive, much to their curiosity. Each of them seemed to be reaching for something that wasn't there on their person. When they realized it, they began patting themselves down for something they can use. The Straw Hats tilted their heads in puzzlement._

_ "Are they trying to find a weapon?" Usopp asked._

_ "Looks like it," Nami said. "Not sure why though."_

_ "Take a guess," Sanji jerked his thumb at Zoro. Out of the five of them, he's the only one walking around with a weapon. A single katana with a white hilt._

_ "I didn't draw it," Zoro retorted._

_ "You look like a thug."_

_ "Who are you, people?" The black-haired girl demanded when they finally stopped patting themselves down._

_ "Funny you should ask," Zoro said, crossing his arms. "Because that's what we wanted to know. You're the ones who landed on our ship."_

_ "Don't mind moss-head here, ladies," Sanji said in a suave voice. He stepped forward and gave a formal bow. "The name's Sanji. May I have the pleasure of learning your names?"_

_ The four girls looked at him with sweat dropped expressions. Nami pushed him to the side and stepped forward._

_ "Forgive him, he's like this when he's around other women. My name's Nami. What are your names?"_

_ "Ruby Rose," The red-cloaked girl introduced. The prostrated herself before them. "We're sorry that we landed on your ship."_

_ "Don't be," Nami said as she kneeled. "A fall from that height, and you would be dead when you hit the water. You're lucky that we were here when you fell."_

_ "Thanks. But what did we land on?" Ruby asked as she got back up. "It felt elastic and rubbery…"_

_ Everyone's eyes turned to Luffy. As usual, he's oblivious to their pointed stares._

_ "Let's continue," The stark girl said. "I'm Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company if that means anything."_

_ "You manufacture dust?" Luffy asked, thinking of tiny particles of waste matter. "Must be poor business."_

_ "Not that kind of dust, you dolt!" Weiss shrieked. "Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy! The stuff that powers nearly everything on Remnant?"_

_ "Remnant? Never heard of it," Luffy said, much to her shock. It sounded like it was common knowledge._

_ "Blake Belladonna," The girl with the black bow interrupted before the argument could escalate. "Pleasure to meet you all."_

_ "Is it just me," Zoro leaned forward. "or did your bow just twitch?" _

_Blake suddenly tensed, causing him to frown. He had been keeping his eye on her bow. It twitched every ten seconds. She's keeping something underneath. Right before she could answer, the blondie cut in._

_ "Yang Xiao Long," She said, giving the swordsman a narrow-eyed look. "Pleased to meet you all as well."_

_ Zoro could see that whatever it was, Blake didn't want people to know. Out of respect, he avoided pursuing it. Maybe later, she'll tell._

_ "Roronoa Zoro."_

_ "My name's Usopp," The Straw Hat sniper introduced, with a hint of dramatic flair. "I'm the captain of this ship! I've sunk countless warships! People know me as Captain Usopp, Lord of Destruction!"_

_ "Yeah right," Luffy knocked him on the head. "I'm the captain. You're the liar."_

_ "You're the captain?" Weiss asked dubiously, to which Luffy nodded. He certainly doesn't look the part, she thought. As he wore simple clothing, a straw hat, and sandals._

_ "Yep. My name is Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet you all!"_

_ When she heard it, Ruby's cheeks puffed up. When she can't contain it any longer, she burst out laughing. She hugged her sides as she fell against the floor. The captain of the Straw hats looked confused at her reaction._

_ "What's so funny?" Luffy asked._

_ "Monkey?" She gasped in between breaths. "Your first name is Monkey?"_

_ "We call him Luffy," Nami said. "Some people happen to have their names backward. Last names first, then comes the first name."_

_ "Now that we've got that out of the way," Weiss said, nudging Ruby with the tip of her toes. "Can you tell you where on Remnant we are?"_

_ "Remnant?" Nami asked with a raised eyebrow. "What island is that?_

_ "It's not an island," Weiss said, looking at her as if she had grown a second head. "It's the whole world itself. Everyone knows that."_

_ "Hey, that's just like saying the entire East Blue is the whole world," Nami scowling back at her. "I don't know where you were, but you won't last long at sea with an attitude like that!"_

_ "East Blue?" Blake asked. She briefly glanced over the edge of the ship. "Is that the name of the sea we're currently in?"_

_ "Yep. There's also the North Blue, the South Blue, the West Blue, and the Grand Line. I haven't heard of an island named Remnant."_

_ The four of them glanced at each other, shock on their faces. They turned to the assembled crew._

_ "That can't be right," Weiss stammered. "We haven't heard of those seas before!"_

_ "How can you not?" Zoro asked. The four girls looked at each other as if to doing a silent conversation._

_ "This may sound strange," Ruby said. "But we may have come from another world."_

_ The Straw Hat crew looked at them with disbelief._

_ "Huh?"_

_ "I know you think it's crazy, but it's true," Ruby desperately said. "One minute, we were sleeping in the dorm of Beacon Academy. Then we are falling from the sky!"_

_ The Straw Hat's still looked at them with disbelief._

_ "And they call me a liar," Usopp muttered. "How can we be sure you're telling the truth?"_

_ "Usopp, you hypocrite!" Sanji grabbed him by the suspenders of his overalls. "Don't you dare call sweet Ruby a liar!"_

_ "I swear, she's not making this up," Yang argued her eyes flickering red. "We found these stupid gold coins. When we went to sleep with them under our pillows, we ended up here!"_

_ "Gold coins?" Nami asked. Then she got into Yang's face, with Beli dollar symbols in her eyes. "Do you still have them? It might be worth a fortune of Berries!"_

_ "Berries?" Weiss asked. "You use fruits as a currency?"_

_ "For your information, they are the name of the money!" Nami shouted as a woman possessed. "Also, gold means a lot of them."_

_ "Nami, we're getting off-topic," Zoro said. Nami snapped out of her money frenzy and nodded. "You said that you came from another world. Do you have something that can prove that?"_

_ "Well," Ruby kicked her feet. "We had weapons, but they were stored in our school's lockers. Then there are our scrolls, but we don't have them on us. But we have this thing called 'Aura'."_

_ "Aura?"_

_ "It's the manifestation of the soul," Weiss explained. "It functions like a forcefield, though we will still feel the pain. We primarily use it for defense, sometimes for the offense. Eventually, it will develop into a semblance."_

_ "A semblance?"_

_ "Think of it as a unique power," Yang said. "I can draw strength from hits, Blake can create shadow clones, Weiss has her glyphs, and Ruby can go super-fast."_

_ "Those sound pretty cool!" Luffy said. "Can we see?"_

_ "Ugh, sure," Weiss said. She thought it would be a waste of aura, but they needed to prove their sanity. She held out a palm and created a small glyph. Luffy looked at it for a moment and frowned._

_ "Is that all you can do… Lame."_

_ "Hey, you wanted to know!" Weiss shrieked. "And for your information, I can do a whole lot more with my semblance. I just need my Myrtenaster!"_

_ "How about I show mine?" Ruby asked. Instantly, she vanished and reappeared on top of the helm, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake. Then zipped back to the original position. The straw hats stared at her in awe._

_ "Is…that proof enough?" Ruby asked awkwardly._

_ "Not quite," Usopp said. He pulled out a slingshot and loaded one of his stars. He drew back the sling and aimed it at her. "Let's test this forcefield of yours."_

_ He let it loose. The star flew straight at Ruby, who just stood there. The star hit the girl…_

_ …and fell to the ground._

_ "Huh?" Usopp lowered the slingshot and stared at where he aimed. He was sure that he hit, but it looked like it bounced off her. She didn't even look wounded. "Guess they weren't kidding."_

_ "One question…" Sanji said. "Can all four of you swim?"_

_ "Huh?" Ruby looked confused at that question. She turned to the rest of her teammates. "Umm…we might have covered it a while back. Why?"_

_ "I guess that rules out the possibility of devil fruit powers," Sanji said. "Told you they're telling the truth."_

_ "Devil fruit powers…?"_

_ "It looks like they are from another world," Nami said. "With the world as crazy as ours, I wouldn't be surprised."_

_ "That was so cool!" Luffy ran up to them. "Wanna join my crew?"_

_ "What?"_

_ "Luffy!" His crewmates, minus Sanji, shouted. The cook was rather welcome to the idea. Nami walked up to him a pinched him on the cheek._

_ "You can't just ask them to join our crew! You don't even know if they want to!"_

_ "She has a point there," Blake said. "We need to find a way back to our world. You can drop us off at the next island."_

_ "But where will you go?" Zoro asked. "Do you even know where to start looking for your home?"_

_ "Uh…"_

_ "He has a point," Nami said as she let go of Luffy's cheek. "As much as I want to argue about the living conditions, he has a point. There isn't a navigator who has even heard of 'Remnant'. Not to mention we can't just leave you guys by yourselves."_

_ "We can take care of ourselves fine," Weiss tried to insist, but she didn't sound convinced of herself._

_ "I agree with Nami," Sanji said. "We can't just leave four lovely ladies by themselves. Something bad can happen to them."_

_ "You better not be trying to flirt with my sister," Yang said, cracking her knuckles threateningly. "Otherwise, you and I will have problems."_

_ "The point remains though," Zoro said. While he relished seeing Sanji get him but handed to him, they needed to stay on the subject. "Do you want to come with us? Trust me, you won't find anyone better to help you."_

_ The more team RWBY thought about it, the more it made sense. Right now, these people may be the only people who would be willing to help them. They also haven't covered any classes relating to sea expeditions, aside from fighting sea Grimm like a Sea Feilong._

_ "Okay," Ruby said. "We'll go with you guys."_

_ "For now," Weiss added. "This only lasts until we get home."_

_ "Excellent!" Sanji clapped his hands. He walked towards the meeting room, which also functions as a kitchen and church. "I'll go ahead and makes some extra food. You girls must be hungry."_

_ "Not to mention we need to get you some proper clothes," Nami said as they made their way to the dining room. "We can't have you running around in your pajamas. Fortunately, we're headed to Loguetown. It's the last stop in the East Blue to get supplies before we enter the Grand Line. It's a popular hangout for pirates like us."_

_ "That's splendid," Weiss said. Then she stopped when the rest of their words sank in. Her teammates also stopped moving to stare at them. "Wait…what did you say…?"_

_ "Oh yeah, I guess we forgot to mention," Luffy said with a carefree grin. "We're pirates!"_

_ The four huntresses-in-training gaped at them._

_ "WHAT?!"_

* * *

"Nooo!" Ruby bolted upright breathing heavily. Then her eyes widened and looked around. She recognized the room that she woke up in.

It was their dorm room back at Beacon Academy.

"Ruby, get off me!" Weiss groaned. "Don't tell me you broke the bed again."

"I didn't," Ruby explained. "Can't you see? We're back at Beacon!"

"Huh?" Weiss sat up straight and took in the surroundings. "We are? How?"

"I don't know," Ruby said as Yang and Blake got up. Ruby found her scroll from where she put it last night and picked it up. The time showed that it was the next day of school. "That's strange."

"What?"

"It's like we never even left!" Ruby said as she showed them the date on her scroll.

"That's impossible!" Yang shouted. "We couldn't have gone through all that in just one night!"

"Does this mean it was all a dream?" Blake asked. "The One Piece? The Grand Line? The Seven Warlords?"

"It looks like it," Weiss sighed. "We'd better get to class before—ow!"

Weiss cringed in pain when she attempted to get back up.

"Weiss, what's wrong?" Ruby asked. Weiss rolled up her shirt to expose her midriff. There, on her belly, is a black-purple bruise. They didn't ask how she got it, because they already knew. As the bruise is in the shape of a paw.

"Isn't that the bruise you got from—" Ruby began to ask.

"It can't be," Weiss stammered.

"Way," Yang countered with her eyes wide. "I got hit by one of his pressure cannons, and it hurt like hell."

"Guys," Blake slowly. "You might want to take a look at this…"

The rest looked around. Now that they got a closer look, they can see that the room looked demolished. But what caught their attention was the fact that it's in the shape of a paw. Rather, there are four paw marks in different parts of the room. Ironically, they are where their beds are.

"The mark of Bartholomew Kuma," Weiss whispered as she examined them closely. Her eyes are wide with realization. "That means that everything that happened—"

"Wasn't a dream," Blake whispered. Her amber eyes widened with the others. "Which means…back at Sabaody…"

Team RWBY could feel the hearts break when the memories came flooding back.

* * *

_"Where's Zoro?! Zoro?! Zoro?! Zoro!_

_ "What happened?!"_

_ "A girl on Thriller Bark was erased like that and never came back…"_

_ "Come on! Let's go!"_

_ "But, Zoro…!"_

_ "He told us to think about stuff later! Come on!"_

_ "Look out, you two!_

_ "Brook!"_

_ "I will protect you, even if it costs me my life! Oh, wait, I'm already d-"_

_ "Brook!"_

_ "S-Stay away…Stay away! Stay away! Stay away! Flame Star! Flame Star! Dammit! Flame Star! Flame Star! Flame Star! Flame Star!"_

_ "Usopp!"_

_ "Run! Run!"_

_ "Outta the damn way! Strong Right!"_

_ "Franky!"_

_ "No! Luffy…Help m—"_

_ "Nami!"_

_ "Chopper!"_

_ "Stop it! That's enough!"_

_ "Robin!"_

_ "Luffy!"_

_ "Ruby! Weiss! Blake! Yang! Run!"_

* * *

Memories of that horrible moment at the Sabaody Archipelago flashed into their mind. The images of their crewmates, their friends, flashing before their eyes. One by one, the Warlord of the Sea made them vanished. The members of Team RWBY felt tears trickling down their cheeks.

"Zoro…Usopp…Sanji…Nami…Chopper…Robin…Franky…Brook…Luffy…" Ruby spoke the names of their crewmates and their captain. They didn't witness it, but they knew Kuma made him vanish as well. Her voice looked like it could fall apart. "…they're all gone…"

"I don't know which was worse," Weiss said, her body trembling. "Kizaru finishing us off or…you know…"

"We couldn't even beat him!" Yang shouted with a voice mixed with anger and grief. She punched an unbroken wall to vent. "Damn them! Damn them all!"

Blake said nothing. Her black bangs fell over her eyes, shielding them from the outside world. Nobody moved or said anything, except for Yang who continued destroying the wall.

An hour later, Professor Goodwitch came to their wrecked dorm room. After the teacher got Yang to stop demolishing the rest of their dorm, she proceeded to lecture them about 'damaging school property' and 'consequences'. But team RWBY wasn't even listening.

Who could blame them?

**[~][~]**

** In just one night, team RWBY experienced the adventures of the Straw Hat crew.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know if I should continue this fic. I wanted to do a One Piece Crossover with RWBY for a while. Also, just to let you know, there isn't going to be any romance between the characters like any cheesy fic. Let's just say that there are going to be major differences with the canon.**

** Anyway, Thank you all for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 2: Unhappy Returns. Dreams of a Reunion.**

**[~][~]**

_"So, you guys are pirates?" Ruby asked. She and her team sat around the small table that the Straw Hat crew had. They were eating the soup Sanji made, which is delicious. However, some chose not to say this out loud to the present company, notably Weiss._

_ "Yep," Luffy nodded, oblivious to the scandalous looks that the rest of her team are giving him. "We're pirates."_

_ "Umm…" Ruby looked at her partner, who had a not-to-pleased look on her face. "Do you attack other ships?"_

_ "Only if we need to." _

"_Make people walk the plank?"_

_ "The what?"_

_ "Rob and pillage?"_

_ "Technically, that's my thing," Nami said, raising a hand. "But my specialty is robbing other pirates. Sometimes I rob other people when I need to."_

_ "That's still acts of a criminal!" Weiss said shrilly. "I can't believe we landed on the ship of criminals!"_

_ "Blake made a not-so-subtle coughing noise. Weiss noticed and looked at her sheepishly. "No offense?"_

_ "None took," Blake said. She turned to the Straw Hats. "Why would you want to be pirates? There are better lives than that."_

_ "It's always what I wanted to be ever since I was a little kid," Luffy said. "Back at my village, we had pirates that lived with us before they sailed off. Their captain is a man named Shanks. He saved my life back and gave me this hat."_

_ He took off his straw hat and showed it to them._

_ "Really?" Ruby asked. "That's great!"_

_ "Yeah…" Then Luffy frowned. "But he always makes fun of me. He plays tricks on me and calls me names because I couldn't swim. Once said 'What kind of pirate can't swim'?"_

_ Everyone sweatdropped at this._

_ "But that didn't matter," Luffy continued. "Now that I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, I can't swim even if I wanted to."_

_ "The Gum-Gum fruit?"_

_ "It's a devil fruit that turns my body into rubber," Luffy said as he hooked a finger to the corner of his mouth. To their shock, he pulled his cheek so that it stretched to an impossible length that exposed his whites and gums. "See?"_

_ "What are you doing?" Weiss asked. "How are you doing that? Normal people can't stretch their cheeks that much!"_

_ "I told you," Luffy said as he let go. His cheeks snapped back to its original shape. "I ate the Gum-Gum fruit. It made it so that my body is made of rubber. So that makes me a rubber man."_

_ "A rubber man?" Weiss asked in disbelief. "That's impossible. The human body cannot be made of rubber."_

_ "Not if that power comes from a devil fruit," Zoro said. "Believe me, we all had the same reaction when we saw what he can do."_

_ "We heard that like three times now," Yang said. "What the hell is a devil fruit?"_

_ "A devil fruit is a mysterious fruit found around the world," Sanji said. "They're said to be fruits of the sea devil. Upon consumption, you get a special power depending on what kind of fruit it is. Though like most things, it comes with a price."_

_ "The ability to swim," Blake guessed. "Is that why you asked us if we could swim? You assumed that we had devil fruit powers?"_

_ "Exactly," Sanji said. "Like Luffy said, what kind of pirate doesn't know how to swim."_

_ "Technically, this Shanks person said that and we never said we were pirates," Weiss said. "We're huntresses in training."_

_ "Huh?" The Straw Hats looked at them blankly. It occurred to Weiss that they may be confusing the term with something else._

_ "They're people who train to fight monsters," She explained, deciding to not name the Grimm. "Dangerous monsters who threaten the safety of our people. We are students of one of the best academies in the world…or our world."_

_ "So, they're like the Marines then?" Nami asked._

_ "We don't know what that means but yeah," Ruby said. "I wanted to be a huntress like my mother and father. I want to protect those who can't protect themselves!"_

_ "That sounds cool," Luffy admitted. "But pirates are way better."_

_ "What! Why?"_

_ "Because what the pirates have is the one thing that trumps all else: Freedom."_

_ "What do you mean?" Ruby asked. She was confused as Huntsman and Huntresses also have freedom. But she wondered what separated Pirates and Huntsman._

_ "Think about it," Luffy said. "Hunting monsters don't qualify as a dream if somebody else is already doing it. You need to have your dream. The one wishes that you want to fulfill in your life. Like my dream…is to become King of the Pirates!"_

_ "King of the Pirates?" Blake asked. "Is that a thing?"_

_ "It is," Zoro said. "History only had one man who held that title until he died: Gol D. Roger."_

_ "Who?"_

_ "Luckily for me, I prepared this just in case," Usopp said. He set up a makeshift presentation in front of them. He cleared his throat and began scrolling through the pictures._

_ "Wealth. Fame. Power," Usopp said in a dramatic voice. "Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, obtained this and everything else the world had to offer, and his dying words drove countless souls to the seas." He did his best imitation of the dead pirate king's voice. "You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! Now you just have to find it!"_

_ Usopp stopped because he ran out of breath. He took a glass of water and drank it in one go. Then he continued._

_ "These words lured men to the Grand Line in pursuit of dreams greater than they've ever dared to imagine. This became the time known as the 'Great Pirate Era! One that we're living in right now!"_

_ Usopp had finished with a dramatic flair to emphasize. The Straw Hats grinned at team RWBY, who had absorbed the whole thing with amazing expressions._

_ "That sounds amazing!" Ruby shouted._

_ "You got that right!" Yang shared her sister's enthusiasm. "So, you guys are looking for his treasure too?"_

_ "Yep. The One Piece," Luffy answered. "Whoever finds it will become King of the Pirates! Is that exciting or what? There are incredible adventures out there just waiting for us."_

_ "For you," Zoro said. "Don't forget, we got our dreams too."_

_ Ruby smiled at this exchange. All at once, she can understand why Luffy viewed Pirates better than Huntsman. For as long as she could remember, they have always been fighting the Grimm ever since they came to be. Now that she realized it, she felt that everyone back at home is repeating the same thing over again._

_ But what if they developed a dream of their own like Luffy…_

_ "Well, we're here," Nami said, bringing them out of their thoughts. She is looking out of the window. "We've arrived at Loguetown!"_

_ "Home and death place of the King of the Pirates!"_

* * *

"Do you realize how much damage you caused?"

As Glynda continued to lecture team RWBY of the disastrous state of their dorm, Ozpin studied them closely. They didn't appear to acknowledge her scolding them. Their faces looked too downcast and sorrowful to be children in trouble. He saw that face many times in his life, for he experienced it.

It was a face they make when they recently lost something dear.

"I hope you girls understand me," Glynda said. When they didn't respond, she spoke harshly again. "Are you listening?"

"Yes, Professor Goodwitch," They replied in almost perfect synch. Their voices sound hollow and dead.

"Glynda, I think that will be enough," Ozpin finally said to his deputy headmistress. Glynda looked at him with surprise. "Team RWBY will have their dorm repaired right before the Vytal Festival. For now, I believe that they should return to class."

"But Professor—"

"They got the message," Ozpin said. "They will make sure that what happened will never repeat. Is that right?"

He directed the last bit towards team RWBY, who all nodded.

"In the meantime, I think it will be wise for you to change dorm rooms. I'll send you the room number on your scrolls. Return to class."

Team RWBY nodded again. Then they turned around and made their way towards the elevator. As soon as the doors shut, Ozpin turned to Glynda.

"I don't think they were listening," Ozpin said.

"What do you mean? I've been lecturing them for nearly half an hour."

"The looks on their faces weren't children who knew they were in trouble. It was rather…like they were grieving."

"You…you don't think they lost someone, do you?" Glynda asked in concern.

"I'm not sure," Ozpin admitted. "I'll make some calls to see what's up. In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on them."

* * *

This was the first time that Ruby wasn't hyped about having her weapon back. She could tell that the others were feeling the same way.

During combat class, no one on her team bothered to volunteer for the first fight. Glynda resorted to skipping over them and calling students at random. Team JNPR looked at them in concern but decided to volunteer. Pyrrha came face to face with a student wielding two katanas.

_If he had a third, he could use a three-sword style…_Ruby thought as the memory came to her.

_"So where are you going?"_

_ "I need to get two new swords."_

_ "Really? Can I come? I want to see what kind of swords they have!"_

_ "You like weapons, don't you?" Zoro asked. Ruby is talking to Zoro as the Straw Hats disembarked from the Going Merry. They had docked on a different side to avoid unwanted attention. When Zoro announced he was going to get new swords, Ruby was fawning over his katana._

_ "Of course!" Ruby nodded happily. "Weapons are like our life partners in combat! Meeting new weapons is like meeting new people!"_

_ Then she became confused as if she suddenly realized something._

_ "Why do you need two more swords?" Ruby asked, pointing to the katana on his hip. "Shouldn't that be enough?"_

_ "I can do one sword style," Zoro said. "But I need two more to use my three-sword style."_

_ "Three-sword style? How do you wield three swords at once?"_

_ "Like this." _

_Zoro put his katana to his mouth and bit onto the hilt. He spoke through clenched teeth. Ruby had the sudden image of a pirate holding a cutlass that way."I hold the other two swords in my hands."_

"_That's awesome!" Ruby said in awe. "I wonder if I can wield three Crescent Rose's at once… Nah…that probably wouldn't work…"_

"_It should be because I'm going to be the greatest swordsmen that the world has ever seen!"_

"Miss Rose?"

Ruby's head shot up at the sound of Goodwitch's voice. She looked down at the combat arena to see her looking at her.

"We have time for one more spar," Glynda said. "Would you like to participate?"

"No thank you," She replied. "I don't feel up to it.

* * *

"My school uniform…my spare school uniform…my battle wear… I think that's all."

Weiss is going through her clothing in her team's destroyed dorm room. She's the only one left because unlike her team, she is picky about her clothes. Some of them have dust on them, meaning she'll have to get replacements. She picked what wasn't touched into a white suitcase.

As she moved to close the lid, a slip of paper fell out. When she picked it up, her eyes widened in recognition.

It was a berry dollar.

_"How's this?" Weiss asked as she stepped out of the changing room. She wore a white top with long sleeves and a matching skirt. Despite their warnings, she opted to go with heels._

_ "Looks good on you!" Nami said. The Navigator had taken team RWBY clothes shopping in Loguetown. There were many passerby's who gave them odd looks at their wear, but they shied away once Yang cracked her knuckles at them. At Nami's suggestion, minus Weiss, they opted for something to wear for the tropical climate._

_ "You guys all finished?" She asked as the others stepped out of their changing rooms._

_Ruby, still sad about her cloak, went for a red t-shirt with a rose design, black shorts, and black shoes. Blake decided to go for a black short-sleeved shirt and pants. Lastly, Yang wore an orange undershirt with a brown hoodie and brown pants._

_ "Yep, I think so," Yang said._

_ "Excellent," Nami waved over to the shopkeeper. She pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to him. "50,000 berries, right?"_

_ "Pleasure doing business with you," The shopkeeper said._

_ "Thank you for doing this, Nami," Blake said. The other members of her team thanked her as well._

_ "Your welcome," Nami replied with a small smile. "Just remember that you owe me 50,000 berries."_

_ "We will…" It took team RWBY several moments to fully register what she said. "Wait…WHAT?"_

_ "You owe me 50,000 berries."_

_ "You're joking right?" Yang asked in disbelief._

_ "If I was joking then there wouldn't be any need for comedians," Nami said. She took out a notebook and began jotting down the amount they owe._

_ "I thought this was a gift," Ruby said, her eyes bawling at the amount of debt they owe._

_ "Hey, I didn't say that this was free," Nami retorted. "Don't forget, you're using my money to get your new clothes. So, if you ever get any berries, then you be sure to pay up. Unless of course, you want to part with those coins you got. It might knock off some of the debt you now owe."_

_ "This is ridiculous," Weiss exclaimed. "You could've just told us that you're going to rip us off!"_

_ "This isn't a rip-off. This is called a loan."_

_ "Has anyone told you you aren't even a banker?" Weiss asked with a huff. "That's it. I'm finding a way to make our own money and pay off your stupid debt. That way, we don't need to use your money."_

_ "That's not a bad idea," Nami said with a big smile. "If you can do that, then getting supplies will be easy. I do intend on drawing a map of the whole world after all!"_

"Ms. Schnee?"

"Huh?" Weiss looked up to see the dorm keeper standing at the doorway.

"Is everything alright? You spaced out for a while."

"I'm alright," Weiss shoved the berry dollar inside her suitcase and zipped it up. She grabbed it and began walking out. "Everything is fine."

Her face said otherwise.

* * *

Yang walked down the streets of vale. She is on her way to 'From Dust till Dawn' to stock up on their supply on dust.

"Did you finish your weapon?"

"Yeah, just this morning. See?"

Yang turned and her eyes widened. Two people in the mistral academy uniform stood a few feet away from her. One of them was holding a slingshot.

_"Hey, Usopp. Can I ask you something?"_

_ "Sure."_

_ "Why do you use a slingshot?"_

_ "Huh?" Usopp looked up from his chemistry set. He was working on a new type of ammo for his arsenal._

_ "I mean, don't get me wrong, your skill outpaces my sister when she's holding a rifle…but why don't you upgrade to a gun or something? It would pack a lot of firepowers."_

_ Usopp considered this._

_ "To be honest, I haven't thought about that before," He said. "But if I have to guess…It's that I'm more comfortable with this. It's always been at my side ever since I was a little kid. Plus, it can do much more than a gun."_

_ "You'd be surprised," Yang said with understanding. She pointed to his chemistry set. "My sister has a knack for weapons. You should ask her for some tips for your slingshot."_

_ "Hey, you're right," Usopp realized. "With her help, I will become the strongest warrior of the sea! Just like my father!"_

"Oof."

Yang snapped out of her thought when she bumped into someone. It was a lady carrying groceries, which are now scattered all over the ground. The lady bent over to pick them up.

"I'm so sorry," Yang apologized. She bent over to help pick up the groceries.

"It's alright," The lady is surprisingly forgiving. When the last of her groceries are back in the bags, she stood up. "Thank you."

Yang just simply walked past her.

* * *

"Hey, Blake!"

Blake turned to see Sun Wukong running towards her. She had just exited the library with books for her latest school assignment. The monkey faunus stopped in front of her. He looked nervous.

"Do you have any lunch plans? I and my team are planning to hit this cool restaurant. I heard that they got lots of good fish."

Blake would've been thrilled at that. But…

_"Here you go, Blake, my dear!"_

_ "Thank you…" Blake said before she dug into her Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna sautèe. If there was one thing she likes about their situation, it was the endless amount of seafood. "This is delicious as usual Sanji."_

_ "I aim to please. Especially for charming ladies such as yourself," Sanji said. Then he frowned. "We're running out though, so be sure to savor that. I don't know when we're going to arrive at the next island for supplies."_

_ "That's a shame," Blake admitted. Whenever she heard that seafood is being served, she was the first to get hungry and the first to get in a race with Luffy._

_ "But don't you worry my fair Blake," Sanji said. "Hopefully they will have a variety of fish. Hopefully from the south blue this time. You should come with me next time. You can pick out what fish you want to try. You might even find new species of fish."_

_ "Really?"_

_ "But that is nothing when I find the All Blue. The place where the four seas meet!"_

"Blake?"

Blake snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Sun's voice. She looked up to see him looking at her in concern.

"Yes?" Blake asked weakly.

"Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you don't look well," He stated if it was obvious. "Do you need to see a doctor or something?"

_Doctor…_

_"Here you go, Blake."_

_ "Thanks, Chopper," Blake said as she took the pills from the anthropomorphic reindeer. Earlier, she developed a bad headache, so she came to get treatment from the ship's doctor. Fortunately, Chopper had some pills for this sort of thing._

_ "Take one pill to ease your headache," Chopper said. "IF it persists, take another every hour."_

_ "You're good at this, you know that?"_

_ "Aww…stop it…" Chopper said, doing his weir thing whenever he is embarrassed._

_ "You know that is still creepy right?"_

_ "Really! I can't afford to get flattered. I'm still far from my dream of being able to cure any disease!"_

"Blake?"

"I'm sorry Sun," Blake backed away. "I don't feel like it. I'll try again later."

"Hey! Wait!"

But Blake ran as fast as she could from him. When she found a place to be alone, she rested her back against a wall and slid down.

_I need to get my mind off these memories._

Blake decided to read a book to help her mind. She reached for one of her books without looking. When she saw the title, she nearly dropped it.

_History of Remnant._

_"So, what's Remnant like?"_

_ Blake looked up from the book she was reading to look at Nico Robin. They sat together on the deck while the others went to town. If it was one thing she shared with Robin, it was her love of reading. She'd already started on a book about the Rainbow Mist._

_ "From where we are, we have ships that fly through the sky," Blake explained. "We still have boats for transport by sea."_

_ "I was talking about your home's history," Robin said. "Remnant must have some grand events to remember. I am an archaeologist after all."_

_ "There's not much to tell," Blake said. "All we remember is a great war that started between four kingdoms. Atlas and Mistral on one side, Vale and Vacuo on the other. When it ended, the academies were created. The rest is lost to us."_

_ "So, you're just like me," She said. "You don't know the full history of the world."_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "I'm trying to find a certain Poneglyph," Robin said. "One that tells the true history of the world."_

Blake could only stare at the book, tears threatening to pour out. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't just throw it away and forget what happened. It would be like casting away the memories of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Their friends.

* * *

Ruby grumpily walked to the locker rooms to retrieve her weapon. Glynda made Team RWBY an ultimatum: participate or get a failing grade. All three of her teammates voted that she go. They weren't feeling up to it. Neither was she, but did they listen?

"Sellouts," Ruby grumbled as she reached her locker. After putting in the combination, she opened it and reached out to take Crescent Rose.

Her hand stopped when she remembered a promise.

_"A sniper rifle combined with a scythe, eh?" Franky asked. "Now that's something I gotta see."_

_ "Yeah," Ruby nodded. "Back at home, we have weapons that can change between a gun and a melee weapon. I should show you mine when we get home."_

_ "I'll hold you to that," Franky said. "It might give me a few ideas to create. Want me to make one for you?"_

_ "Thanks, but I still have my baby," Ruby said. "If I made another, then I would be betraying my weapon."_

_ "I can respect that," Franky said. "You should strive to create the best weapon you can. I created the Thousand Sunny, my dream ship and I want to see it sail across the seas!"_

"Ruby Rose!" Ruby jumped at the sound of her combat instructors' voice.

"Coming!" Ruby grabbed her baby and rushed out to the combat arena. She wasn't eager to fight but she can't handle and angry Goodwitch.

She sadly wondered what kind of weapon Franky would've made to counter her.

* * *

"Be sure to collect enough. We need enough for the festival."

They all had taken a class trip back to Forever fall. This time, they're collecting barrels of red sap for the festival. Weiss is in charge of counting the barrels they collected.

"That's the third batch," Weiss announced as the truck with a load of barrels drove off. "One more to go."

She was using her scroll as a clipboard to count how much they've collected. When the truck is gone, all was silent except for the rustling of leaves. A little too quiet if you asked her. Weiss looked around and cleared her throat.

"Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo. Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo. Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo. Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo…"

"_Gather up all of the crew," Brook sang while playing his violin. "It's time to ship out Bink's brew. Sea-wind blows. To where? Who knows? The waves will be our guide. ~" _

_ "O'er across the ocean's tide," Weiss sang with him. "Rays of sunshine far and wide. Birds they sing, off cheerful things, in circles passing by."_

_ "I say, Weiss, you sing like a diva," Brook commented as he stopped playing. "If you were born in my time, my old crew would have asked you to join."_

_ "That's nice Brook," Weiss said with meaning. Weiss had to admit, despite being reduced to a skeleton, his skills as a musician haven't faded. Back at home, her songs carried a dead tone, like she's expressing her sadness when she's forced to sing for her father's 'charity' concerts. But Brooks songs carried joy that is enough to lift people's spirits._

_ "May I see your panties?"_

_ One second later, an angry Weiss slapped him as hard as she could. So far that he's standing at a thirty-degree angle. Despite being a skeleton, he could still feel the pain. As demonstrated by the big red bump on his cheek._

_ "For the millionth time, NO!"_

_ "Feisty as usual!" Brook exclaimed as he set himself right. "But thanks, Weiss. Bink's Brew has always been a favorite to sing. I can't wait to play it to Laboon when I see him again."_

"Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo. Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo. Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo. Yoho-ho-ho, Yoho-ho-hoo."

Weiss finished the song, sad that she might never see what she considered the greatest musician ever heard again. She shook her head to prevent herself from crying. When she looked up, she found team JNPR looking at her with surprised expressions. Nora had opened one of the barrels and helped herself to some sap again.

"That was amazing Weiss," Jaune breathed. "Did you think of that yourself?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes and walked towards them. She shoved her scroll onto Jaune and walked into the forest.

"Make sure she doesn't eat any of it."

* * *

Team RWBY sat in the cafeteria, their trays of food in front of them. They haven't touched them for several minutes. It was too painful when they remember the times that they had a great feast with the rest of their Straw Hat friends, courtesy of Sanji's cooking. Luffy would constantly steal their food. Yang and Zoro would chug down booze despite being underage. Weiss would get into another argument with Nami about the money again. Ruby, Usopp, and Franky would talk about weapons as usual. The rest would just silently stare on.

What they would give to experience it again.

Team JNPR had been sitting across them, staring at them. Unlike them, they had eaten half their food. Nora had been flicking grapes at Yang, trying to get her attention. The blonde brawler didn't seem to notice.

Finally, they had enough.

"Alright, that's it!" Nora banged her fists on the table, making everyone's trays fly temporarily. She pointed to the astonished team RWBY as if realizing that they were there. "What is going on with you people?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play innocent with me! You four have been acting mopey dopey ever since you destroyed your dorm. Which by the way was awesome! How did you guys do it?"

"You're getting off track Nora," Ren sighed.

"Nothing's wrong guys," Ruby said in a non-convincing tone. "We just have a lot on our mind, with the festival and all that."

"It must be so much that you're not eating," Jaune pointed out. Team RWBY looked down at their trays as if they finally noticed. Jaune saw this and sighed.

"Look, guys, we're just worried about you. This isn't like you. Remember when I was being bullied by Cardin?"

"Yep," They replied in unison with a small pop. They clearly remembered when he denied being bullied by him. Jaune clearly remembered and winced at the tone.

"What he's trying to say is that we're all here for you," Pyrrha stepped in, trying to salvage the situation. "You don't have to be alone in what you are going through."

Team RWBY considered this and looked at each other.

_They might not be able to, but…_

They turned back to them.

"If you watched friends vanish right in front of you," Weiss said carefully, being careful to omit the details including the Warlord of the Sea. "How would you get over it?"

Jaune looked surprised as well as his team. "…that's the first time I've heard that question. How did that happen?"

"We met a few friends online," Blake explained. "One day, they suddenly…stopped playing. We contacted their parents, and they told us that…"

Her voice trailed off. She couldn't say it, but they seemed to understand. Looks of sympathy crossed their faces.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said. "It must've been rough."

"You have no idea," Yang said, thinking about their fight with Kuma.

"I'm sorry as well," Jaune said. "I don't know an answer to that one."

"If it helps," Nora added. "Ren and I lost our parents as well. We know how it feels…just letting you know."

"We still have the scars," Ren said. "But the only thing we could do was move forward."

"Move forward…" They muttered.

"I'm sorry we couldn't give you a better answer," Ren said, he pointed to their food. "But it's not good to have an empty stomach. You need to maintain your health."

Team RWBY nodded and picked up their forks. They picked up a helping of food and brought it to their mouths. They took a bite and stopped for a long time. A frown crossed their face. JNPR took notice.

"What's wrong?" Jaune asked.

Team RWBY took the food out of their mouths and pushed their trays away. Weiss smiled dangerously at them. "Could you give us a second?"

Several seconds later.

"HEY, CAFETERIA LADY! THIS FOOD TASTES FREAKIN AWFUL!"

* * *

"I can't believe we got detention!" Weiss steamed as they walked back to their temporary dorm.

"Well we did cause an outburst," Yang said with a grin.

"But how is it our fault that the cooking was bad," Weiss snapped. "I'm going to start a petition! Sanji's dishes were way better than that …that…swill!"

"She's got a point," Blake said, thinking of Sanji's food. The happy thought vanished when she remembered that he's gone.

"What's the point?" Ruby asked. "It's not like he's going to cook for us any time soon."

No one argued with that.

"We can't do anything about it now," Yang sighed. "Let's get some sleep. It's three days until the festival."

"Three days…huh…"

"Blake?" They all turned to Blake. Her amber eyes were wide as dinner plates. When she didn't respond, Yang waved a hand in front of her face. "Blake?"

"I remember…" She muttered. Then she took off running.

"Blake?" Yang called out, chasing after her. The others followed after her. When they entered their temporary room, Blake shut the door and locked it.

"Blake, what's wrong?"

Blake took a few moments to catch some breath. Then she turned around.

"Do you remember back at Sabaody that guy with the large broad-ax?"

"You mean Sentomaru?" Ruby asked. "The guy who said he's got the toughest defense in the whole world. Why?"

"When Kuma made Zoro disappear he said something," Blake said, excitement creeping in her voice. I forgot all about it until now. I was able to hear him over all the chaos. HE said that anyone touched by Kuma's paw gets sent flying for three days and nights."

Her teammate's eyes widened at the news.

"He didn't know if it was true or not, but considering that his power—"

"Is to repel anything he wishes," Weiss finished. "Then that means…"

"They're all alive!" Ruby shouted with joy. "Luffy! Zoro! Usopp! Sanji! Nami! Chopper! Robin! Franky! Brook! They're all still alive but in separate places!"

Team RWBY's spirits rose for the first time since they returned to Remnant. For days, they thought that their friends are dead. Now the are cheering for joy. Eventually, someone came over to complain about the noise.

"We're sorry," Ruby apologized and closed the door. She and the rest of her team huddled up.

"So, what do we do?" Yang asked excitedly. "Do we go out and find them?"

"Right now? No," Weiss argued. "We don't even know how to get back to the Grand Line. We also have no idea where they went or how to get there."

"Not to mention the Vytal festival and school," Blake added. Then she frowned. "Which brings the question…how did Kuma know where to send us back? Not to mention how he sent us back here to the same day we left."

"I don't know," Ruby said. Then a thought occurred to her. "Maybe the coins took us back in time to where our adventures began. Then Kuma sent us back here and just in time for the next day of school."

"But how does that even work?" Weiss groaned. "These devil fruit powers and whatnot give me a headache."

"We'll worry about that later," Yang said. "For now, what should we do?"

Everyone thought about it in silent contemplation.

"We wait till the festivals over," Ruby said finally. "We have a break after that. We'll use the time there to find our crewmates."

"But how will we get back to the Grand Line," Weiss asked again.

"We will find a way," Ruby declared firmly. "IF it's one thing we do is to never give up. Even if we challenge the sea. After all…"

Ruby smiled.

"…we're pirates right?"

* * *

_"Yahoo! The ship feels like it'll flip over!"_

_ The Straw Hats and RWBY sailed through the stormy sea. Waves crashed against the Going Merry, but she held fast. It wasn't long after their arrival at Loguetown that they got word that it's taken over by the Marines, under the command of Commodore Smoker. This spelled bad news for them, as he's an enemy to all pirates._

_ Before they could leave, Luffy got captured by Buggy the Clown, an old enemy of the crew who ate the Chop-Chop fruit. Zoro and Sanji went to rescue him while the others went back to the Merry. Team RWBY wanted to go and help Luffy too, but they didn't have their weapons._

_ Not to mention it will put them deeper into debt with Nami._

_ When they got back, they found one of Buggy's goons there. A beast tamer by the name of Mohji and his pet lion Richie. To Yang's laughter, he was trying to light the Merry on fire __**in the rain**__. IT got even more hilarious when he sent Richie to attack them. Usopp fired an egg at him and he ended up eating it. Long story short, Yang promptly grabbed Richie and tossed him over the edge, Mohji following after him. Then the Marines arrived and attacked, forcing them to disembark. After a massive gust occurred, Luffy and the others managed to get back, courtesy of the captain. Luffy had used himself as a slingshot and shot them back to the ship._

_ "You see that light over there?" Nami asked, pointing to a distant light._

_ "You mean that lighthouse?" Blake asked, her eyes are more accustomed to the darkness than the others._

_ "It's known as the light of guidance," Nami said. "The entrance to the Grand Line is up ahead of that light."_

_ She turned to the others._

_ "So, what should we do?"_

_ "D-Don't you guys think that entering the Grand Line in the midst of this storm is a bit…" Usopp stammered._

_ "Oh, man up Usopp," Yang said. "We've come too far to back out now."_

_ "The lady's right," Sanji said as he moved a large barrel to the deck. "We've reached the Grand Line, haven't we? Well, this calls for a celebration."_

_ "What kind?" Ruby asked, thankful that her aura is helping her with the cold rain. She wondered how the Straw Hats got used to this without aura. Though she assumed it was because they're more used to this sort of thing. Sanji didn't answer, rather, he raised a foot and placed it over the top of the barrel._

_ "To find All Blue!"_

_ RWBY wondered what this is. Then Luffy and Zoro walked over and mimicked Sanji's action._

_ "To become King of the Pirates!"_

_ "To become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"_

_ Nami smiled and walked over to put her foot on the barrel._

_ "To draw a map of the world!"_

_ "T…t-to become a brave warrior of the seas!" Usopp declared, putting his foot over the barrel._

_ RWBY smiled at this exchange. Each of the Straw Hat is declaring their dreams before they entered the Grand Line. They noticed that there was still space over the barrel. Luffy looked over at them._

_ "What are you waiting for?" He asked. "Join in!"_

_ "Huh?"_

_ "You guys are part of the crew, right?" Zoro asked to their confused faces. "At least until you get back home. Not to mention that the Marines have already labeled you as part of the crew."_

_ "Are you asking us to join?" Ruby asked. "Like officially?"_

_ "We sure are," Nami nodded. "That is if you guys are planning on skipping out on the debt you guys owe me."_

_ "Just you wait," Weiss growled while Nami stuck out a tongue._

_ "Can you hurry up?" Usopp asked. "My leg can't keep this up forever."_

_ "A gentleman waits for a lady Usopp," Sanji scolded. He turned to team RWBY. "Well, ladies?"_

_ None of them were sure about what to do. That is until Ruby suddenly stepped forward and raised her leg._

_ "To become the greatest huntress!" She declared, placing her foot on the barrel. Weiss looked at her partner with surprise before Yang moved forward and did the same._

_ "To experience the greatest adventure!" She declared._

_ Weiss looked at Blake, wanting to see how she will respond. To her astonishment, Blake grabbed her ribbon and pulled it off, exposing her faunus features to the whole world. Blake walked over to where the stunned Straw Hats and her teammates are._

_ "To find equality and peace among all species!" She declared, placing her foot on the barrel._

_ All eyes are on Weiss now. As much as she didn't want to be a pirate, she became curious about this. Not to mention that there was a dream that she had in mind. Based on the reason she came to Beacon Academy._

_ She walked over to where they stood and put her heel on the barrel._

_ "To bring honor to my family name!"_

_ With that, each of them raised their legs and brought it down on the barrel, breaking it._

_ "To the Grand Line!"_

* * *

Ruby brought forth a box of Pumpkin Pete's cereal and placed it on the floor. Her teammates gathered around it.

"No matter what happens, I will never stray from the path my friends share!" Ruby declared, placing a foot on the box.

"I never wanted to be like those Celestial Dragons!" Weiss said, placing her foot on the box. "If that's what waits for me in Atlas, count me in!"

"Don't think just because I'm home that I will stop," Blake placed her foot on the box too. "I will not rest until my friends are safe!"

"I still remember the adventures that we experienced, and I sure as hell am not going to let them end here," Yang declared as she placed her foot on the box.

"Even now, we are still Pirates!" They declared as they smashed the box, spilling its contents all over the floor.

"Now the first order of business," Ruby said. "Let's see if we still have our devil fruit powers!"

**[~][~]**

**Another chapter is done. To be honest, I decided to post another chapter early because of how much promise this story holds. I can't wait to do more.**

**I leave you with two riddles. The first regards an issue you might have with the second one:**

**One Piece and RWBY. What do they have in common? Hint: What is found in Remnant and rare in the Grand Line. It has three branches and another one is about to be discovered. What is it?**

**Now for the final riddle: What devil fruit do you think they eat?**

**See you all next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 3: The Festival of Peace. The strength of Beacons Pirates.**

**[~][~]**

_3 days later…_

Ruby stood in front of her mother's gravestone, smiling sadly.

"Hey mom," Ruby said. "Sorry I haven't come by in a while. Things have been… well, things have been, pretty busy. Oh, Dad's here, too! He's, uh, you know…Dad. HE's still teaching at Signal. But he told me that he's going to be on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you."

Her face became more forlorn.

"I miss you too…." Then her face perked up. "Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet! So that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. Keep her in line… That was a joke. She's a great fighter! You can tell she's learned a lot from Dad! Oh, so are Weiss and Blake. OH! They're my teammates! Together, we form Team RWBY! And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion. Anyways, I made a bunch of new friends, and then I met some…"

Memories of her shipmates flew in her head.

"Some…crazy things happened lately. I and my team got transported to this world of pirates and marines. We met several new friends. You probably wouldn't approve of this, but… I became a pirate. Not the one where we make people walk the plank. My captain, his name is Luffy by the way, explained that they go on adventures challenging the seas in pursuit of dreams. Zoro is the first mate, and he's a swordsman. Nami is our navigator. Usopp is our sniper, but Luffy calls him the liar of the crew. Sanji is the best cook we ever had. Chopper is a human reindeer, but he is very good at medicine. Robin is our archaeologist. Franky is a cyborg, very cool. Lastly, Brook is our musician, but he's a skeleton who makes jokes as bad as Yang."

Ruby chuckled at that.

"They all became pirates because they have dreams of their own. My team also have their dreams to follow and… I may be gone for a while after we finish the festival."

Ruby's forlorn look returned, then she brightened.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. During my adventures, I uh…." Ruby bashfully scratched her head. "…accidentally ate a thing called the Devil Fruit."

* * *

_"I miss my baby," Ruby whined as she stood at the crow's nest of the Going Merry. She held a rifle that Nami had nicked from Baroque Works assassin. Unlike her Crescent Rose, it is a flintlock type with a wooden frame and an iron tube for the barrel. She and Usopp modified it so that it fires projectiles like his stars including bullets._

_ Which is handy in a raid against pirates._

_ They had been ambushed by Pirates again, likely sent by Baroque works. They are being hunted by assassins after the life of Princess Nefertari Vivi, who is trying to save her kingdom from Sir Crocodile, the crime boss of Baroque Works and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea._

_ "Fire shot!" Ruby cried as she fired a bullet at an assassin attempting to strike down Nami, who is carrying a huge sack on her shoulder. The shot hit him, and he burst into flames. Ruby didn't like killing people, but there was little room for discussion. Fortunately for her consciousness, her target leaped into the ocean to douse out the fire._

_ "Thanks, Ruby!" Nami gave her a thumbs-up as she boarded the ship. She lowered the bag and turned to the enemy ship. "Alright Luffy, it's all yours!"_

_ "Got it!" Luffy shouted. Seconds later, Luffy had jumped high in the air._

_ "Gum Gum…" Luffy shouted as his leg stretched to the sky. "Battle-Axe!"_

_ Luffy's leg shot back down to the earth and hit the ship. The impact of his attack broke the ship in two. Luffy's arms stretched to grab the side of their ship and pulled himself back to safety._

_ With the battle done, Ruby used her semblance to fly from the crow's nest and land on the docks. The rest of her shipmates have gathered. Nami had just opened the sack, but to her surprise, it was filled with food._

_ "Hey, this isn't the loot!" Nami exclaimed. "I was sure I packed enough treasure for an easy million berries!"_

_ "Oh hey, there's the food I packed!" Luffy said as he helped himself to several pounds of meat. "I was worried that we lost it when I broke the ship."_

_ "Wait, you packed the food? Then what happened to the treasure I packed?" Nami asked. Her eyes widened in realization as she remembered dropping the sack to avoid an assassin. Luffy had just walked in with a sack as large as hers and beat him up. Nami then picked up a random sack and rushed back to the ship._

_ "You IDIOT!" She shrieked as she beat up Luffy. "Do you know how much you cost me?"_

_ "I'm sorry!" Luffy said._

_ "So anyway," Zoro said to Team RWBY. "How did your new weapons go?"_

_ "Swell," Ruby said as she held up her rifle. "I still need to get used to the recoil though. Not to mention I need to waterproof this thing."_

_ "Is it possible to find a better weapon than these?" Weiss asked as she held up a cutlass that she snatched. It felt heavier than her usual weapon. Blake held a similar weapon as well._

_ "It's possible at the next island," Zoro said. "In the meantime, you'll have to get used to those. Can't have you overusing your aura."_

_ "I might as well cook something up," Sanji said as he examined lettuce. "Despite Luffy's idiocy, he did manage to pick out fresh produce. In the meantime, help yourselves to some of the fruit."_

_ "Not to mention booze," Zoro said as he grabbed a bottle and opened it. Soon, except for Sanji, everyone helped themselves to some fruit. _

_ Ruby picked up a fruit shaped like a strawberry with some strange designs. She examined the fruit for a moment, then shrugged and began to eat it. She nearly recoiled from the taste. She'll have to ask Sanji about it alter._

_ "Hey Ruby," Usopp called. "Is the rifle working up to your specifications?"_

_ "It is," Ruby said as she reached for her rifle. "Though I was hoping to work on something—EEP!"_

_ The moment her fingers touched the rifle, red sparks flowed from her fingers. They traveled along the length of the weapon before it suddenly broke apart. The wooden frame and the iron barrel bounced on to the ground with the other parts._

_ "Ruby!" Yang called as she came running to her sisters' side. The others heard her cry as well and rushed over. "What happened?"_

_ "I don't know!" Ruby exclaimed, staring at the remains of the rifle. "I just touched it and it…that happened."_

_ "That was so cool!" Luffy exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "Was that your semblance?"_

_ "My semblance can't do that!" Ruby protested._

_ "It can't? Then it must be…" Nami's eyes widened. "Ruby, did you eat a strange fruit?"_

_ "Well…" Ruby said, thinking back to what she ate before. "There was this big strawberry that I ate from the sack of food. It didn't taste good though."_

_Ruby looked at the shocked faces of her shipmates. Luffy had a look that seemed to have remembered something._

_ "Really? That sounds like that time when I ate the—"_

_ BONK!_

_ Nami proceeded to whack Luffy on the head. Despite being made of rubber, a big bump grew up from his head, knocking his straw hat off to hang._

_ "Why did you do that?"_

_ "Because, you idiot, she ate a devil fruit! That was a devil fruit that you grabbed and stuffed into that sack! Thanks to you, she can't swim anymore!_

_ "Wait…WHAT?!"_

* * *

"Yeah…" Ruby scratched her cheek. "Thanks to that, I can no longer swim. On the bright side, I got a cool ability though. It's helped me out more often."

Then she heard a bark behind her. She turned to see her dog, Zwei, and her dad, Tai Yang, standing there.

"Oh, Looks like Dad's back! I got to go! He's dropping me off at Beacon for the tournament match before he goes on his next mission. Wish me luck!"

She puts her hood back on and started to walk away. But then she stopped and turned around.

"It was good to talk."

* * *

"Anyone feeling nervous?" Ruby asked with a smile as they walked to the arena. "I know I'm not."

"Nope."

"Not me."

"The same."

Nobody could blame them. They had faced angry marines, sea monsters, and even looked at a Warlord of the Sea in the eye and not backed down. They even escaped death from that time at Thriller Bark. To them, facing a group of huntsmen and huntresses in training in colosseum where everyone on Remnant would be watching will be nothing. They couldn't wait to be the first team to steamroll the tournament.

"So how do you want to do this?" Yang asked, cracking her knuckles. "Do we trash them like we always do?"

"I've been thinking about that," Weiss said. "Maybe we should hold back a bit."

"What! Why?"

"Because I think it wouldn't be fair…" Weiss said before Yang scoffed.

"So what? Did you forget?" Yang asked. "We're pirates! We take what we want by force! Plus, we don't have to play by the rules. Except for making sure that we follow the tournament's rules. Anything else is fair play."

"But…"

"Besides, this will teach them a lesson. To be prepared for the unexpected so that you don't fail next time. Isn't that right?"

"You remember how we got our butts handed to us when we got our devil fruit powers?" Ruby asked. "Luffy and the others didn't hold back when they helped us train."

"But that's just the point," Weiss said. "A team suddenly develops new powers out of the blue raises a lot of questions. The last thing we need is attention if we are to go looking for the rest of our crew. Also, need I remind you that one of us has the most obvious changes when she uses her powers?"

They knew that she was talking about Yang. They wanted to argue, but she does raise a point. Plus, they didn't want to end up on the dissection table.

"I wouldn't be able to use my devil fruit, to begin with," Blake said pointedly. "There's nothing in the rules saying I can bring a book inside."

"Your devil fruit makes you overpowered," Ruby pointed out.

"Alright," Yang grumbled. "We'll hold back. A little!"

"Come on Yang," Ruby tried to cheer up her sister. "On the plus side, they won't get much information out of us until the final round. That way, we can take the opponent by surprise."

"Fair point," Yang nodded. That seemed to ease her if only a little. They arrived at the arena as Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck announced their team and their opponents.

"Hey guys, how about I finish them off," Ruby asked. "I got a new weapon integrated into Crescent Rose that I wanted to try."

"Really?" Yang asked with a grin. "Okay."

"Normally, I'd be against this kind of thing," Weiss said. "But after your previous weapon tests, I'm going along with it. For now."

"Just make sure you don't kill them," Blake said.

"Ready?" Professor Port's voice thundered across the coliseum. "Three. Two. One."

Team ABRN got ready to fight. To their astonishment, Team RWBY had a relaxed stance and didn't seem to regard them. Three of them didn't even take out their weapons.

"BEGIN!"

Weiss, Blake, and Yang took a step back as Ruby held Crescent Rose in front of her and let red and blue sparks flew. Crescent Rose began to change. The area around the trigger and her hand became covered by a metal box, with an arm brace to stabilize her aim. A cylinder formed as the barrel extended and grew. By the time the transformation finished, it was big enough to fit her head inside.

Everyone except for team RWBY stared in shock as she aimed at the opposing team. The cylinder began to revolve as it glowed blue. At the end of the barrel, it glowed the same color.

"Say goodnight," Ruby said a little too cheerfully as she pulled the trigger.

In one second, the new cannon fired twenty rocks of light-blue dust. It was so fast that Team ABRN didn't have time to react as they are hit. The rocks impacted the ground around them, kicking up dust and obscuring their view. When the smoke cleared, the opposing team is encased in an iceberg. Their faces are frozen in shock.

Even the spectators are flabbergasted at what they saw.

"Um…ladies and gentlemen, it appears the fight ended before it even began. The winner of this round is Team RWBY!"

* * *

"How did you integrate _THAT_ into your weapon?" Weiss asked as they walked through the rows of stalls. They're here to celebrate their victory with food. "I'm surprised you were even able to hold that thing."

"Hey, you try carrying a bulky sniper rifle," Ruby puffed her cheeks. "It was thanks to Zoro letting me use his weights. Besides, after we got back, I was able to lighten the weight."

"If you asked me, I wanted to be the one to win that round," Weiss said with a proud look. "With my devil…"

Weiss suddenly stopped talking. When they heard a cry of surprise, the rest of Team RWBY turned to see their white-haired teammate gripping the wrist of Emerald Sustrai. Her hand was reaching towards Ruby.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Weiss asked with a frown.

"I…uh…"

"You were reaching for Ruby's wallet, weren't you?"

"I just wanted to help raise her awareness," Emerald simply said.

"By robbing my sister?" Yang asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes," Emerald said quickly. "I do this with my friends back at Haven. You wouldn't believe how many people keep trying to pickpocket. If I do this, I help them be more aware and keep their guard up."

"I see," Ruby said. "You could've just told us you were going to do that."

"What's the point if you tell someone you're going to pickpocket them. Besides, I was going to give it back."

"Were you?" Weiss asked testily.

"Y-yes? Also, can you let go of my arm now?" Emerald asked. Weiss released her wrist and Emerald rubbed it. "What's with all the edginess?"

"Let's just say that we have a friend that keeps stealing our money," Yang explained, and everyone knew who that was. "Anyway, what's up Em?"

"Just left the stadium after your amazing fight!" Emerald said. "Your leader was awesome! I didn't expect the fight to be over with so quickly!"

Team RWBY watched their leader as she blushed and mumbled, just like Chopper. "Oh, shut your stupid little face…"

"I heard your team progressed to the next round too," Blake said over her leaders' incoherent gushing.

"You know," Weiss said. "I feel we haven't seen your other teammates."

"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asked.

Emerald tilted her head back and thought for a moment before nodding. "They did well."

"That's great," Ruby said as she snapped out of her mumbling. "Uh. Why don't we all go and get a victory food together?"

"Oh, gosh, that's so nice of you, but my teammates are all kind of…"

She looked back to see her teammate Mercury Black. He was sniffing the inside of a boot.

"…introverted. _Really_ socially awkward."

Yang nodded in understanding. "Ooh, yeah, I could see that."

"Oh yeah, looks like Merc and I are going to move on to the doubles round. What about you guys?"

"We all put it to a vote," Ruby said. "We decided that Weiss and Yang are going to the doubles round."

"Not Ruby?" Emerald asked. "I figured that she would be able to storm the competition."

"The same reason that I don't join in the fight," Blake said. "Ruby and I are not good at close combat. Not to mention that Ruby is even worse than me."

"Hey!" Ruby protested with a pout.

"You know it's true," Weiss said before turning to Emerald. "Anyway, we will happily represent Team RWBY."

"Yeah!" Yang pounded her fists together. "We're going to kick some serious butt!"

"Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya."

Yang returned Emerald's confident smirk with one of their own. But it felt more predatory than confidence, which unnerved Emerald. _Were those sharp teeth?_

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Emerald turns and walks away from them as they do likewise. "Alright, well we're going to catch some more fights."

"Have fun!" Ruby waved. "Also, please don't try to steal my wallet next time!"

"No promise there! See you later," Emerald said with faux cheerfulness. As soon as she walks away, her expression turned into one of thinking as Mercury chuckled.

"That's the first time I've seen you fail," Mercury teased. "Are you getting out of touch?"

Emerald was deep into her thoughts to retort. She heard that team RWBY was depressed for some time, that was fine with her because she hated their constant positivity. That satisfaction faded once they got better. That suspicion is doubled after seeing their leader finish that round with that massive weapon of hers. Then the heiress was more aware than she thought. Whatever happened may affect the plan.

She'd better report this to Cinder.

* * *

"Did you have to use that tone of voice Weiss?" Yang asked. "Em was only trying to be helpful."

"Hey, you try dealing with Nami stealing your money for months," Weiss said with a cringe. "I had to get Franky to build a vault to prevent her from stealing the money I gathered for the crew. I'm just waiting on that security system I asked him to add."

"I'm amazed that you were able to see that she was about to pickpocket Ruby," Blake said.

"That's one perk of dealing with that cat burglar," Weiss said haughtily. "Compared to her, Emerald is an amateur."

"Is that why you're letting Nami steal from you?" Ruby asked, remembering the times Nami would take Weiss' money. Weiss clearly remembered and slumped her shoulders. When she looked up, there was a fire in her eyes.

"Trust me, I'm getting one step closer to protecting my money. Soon, that thief won't touch it again!"

Ruby, Blake, and Yang sweatdropped at this. They knew that Nami once raised money to try to buy her village back from Arlong, a cruel Fishman pirate that killed her mother and forced her to draw sea charts. After he had been defeated by Luffy, she turned that into hoarding money for herself. Zoro even said that her loans are stingy. They wondered if Nami had turned Weiss into a monster.

"Ah here we are," Weiss said, pointing to a ramen stall. They all sat down and ordered ramen. Yang, Weiss, and Ruby ordered a regular. Blake got a bowl with fish in it. Weiss took out her wallet and took out a wad of lien.

"Keep the change," Weiss said with a smile. The Shopkeeper nodded his head and thanks and walked back into the kitchen.

"Lien?" Yang asked as Blake dug into her ramen. "I thought the elite of Atlas uses credit cards."

"That was until now," Weiss said, bringing out her scroll. She showed her recent call history, the most common is 'Father'. "If it's one thing I learned from Nami is that you have to be control of your money. I figured that I owed my father some payback so…"

"So, I withdrew nearly half of the Schnee family fortune."

Everyone spits out their food in surprise at that. They looked at Weiss with the wide eyes of disbelief. Yang, however, was laughing. The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company had just robbed her father.

"Seriously?" Yang asked in between chuckles. "You robbed…" She stopped to look around before changing her choice of words. "I mean, wouldn't he be angry at how much you _liberated_?"

"We're pirates remember?" Weiss said with no remorse. "Besides, I'm sure that he wouldn't have any problem making up the missing lien. Considering his questionable business partners, I doubt he wants the police to take a look at his dealings. Plus I believe the best payback he could get at me is canceling my card. Which I recently burned after my transaction. Just remember that I'm in charge of the money."

"No complaint there," Blake said. She had finished her dish and was gazing at it longingly. "It wasn't as delicious as Sanji's, but it's good."

"I can order some more if you want," Weiss said. Blake eagerly nodded and Weiss hailed the shopkeeper again. She ordered two more bowls for Blake.

"So now that we've gotten clear of the first round," Ruby began as Blake began her second helping. "How about we get to our plans for finding our crewmates and our captain?"

"Funny you should mention that," Weiss said. "Because I remembered something like Blake.

"What?"

"Remember the ship coating mechanic, Raleigh Silver?" Weiss asked.

They all remembered. Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King, also known as was Gol D. Roger's, right-hand man. After the execution of the King of the Pirates, he became a coating mechanic at the Sabaody Archipelago. After they laid low for three days, they were to return to him by using the…

"The Vivre cards!" Ruby realized.

"That's right," Weiss pulled out a plastic bag. Inside are four pieces of paper with torn edges. "I found them on the floor in our room before Glynda repaired it. Managed to get these before the janitor almost threw them away. You're also welcome."

Vivre Cards are a special kind of paper that is completely water and fireproof but can be torn. The torn pieces will point to and move towards each other no matter where they are in the world, allowing the holder to always be able to tell in which direction the other person is. On each of the pieces is written 'Rayleigh'.

"I completely forgot about those," Yang said.

"Anyway, check this out," Weiss opened the bag and pulled out a piece. She held out her palm and placed the card on it. Then, to their astonishment, it moved to the right.

"What the heck!" The other three exclaimed, nearly knocking their bowls over. They are immediately met by the angry gaze of the Shopkeeper.

"Sorry," Ruby meekly apologized. As soon as he was gone, Team RWBY converged upon each other. "How did it do that? I thought the Grand Line was in another world."

"That's what I thought too," Weiss said. "I was thinking about it. What if the Grand Line is…?"

"Hey, guys!" Team RWBY jumped at the boisterous voice of Nora. They quickly took their respective cards and put them away as Team JNPR approached them.

"Hey," Ruby waved. "Want to join us?"

"I think we will accept your invitation," Jaune said and they took their seats. They ordered more ramen for them and they ate. Pyrrha insisted that they needed energy in the coming fight. When they were done, they discussed their match.

"That was awesome!" Nora exclaimed. "How did you build that? Can you give me one as well?"

"I'll see about that," Ruby said.

"When did you have time to build that?" Jaune asked. "If I were to take a guess, I think that could take out a Goliath."

"Trust me, I'm still working on that," Ruby said. She decided to change the subject before it delved further into her abilities. "So anyway, are you guys hyped for your match?"

"Of course! We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune, we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh…Jaune!"

"Are you going to take that?" Ren asked.

"She's not wrong," Jaune said.

"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding," Nora said. The next few words and her expression turns worried. "Don't be so nervous! The worst that can happen is we lose, that is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!

Nora suddenly lost her maniacal laughter and began sobbing. She slammed her head on the counter.

"So, yeah," Ren said unperturbed. "We're feeling pretty good."

"Don't fret," Pyrrha assured. "If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and not, well…murderers."

"Yeah," Yang said. "Don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before."

Blake nodded and began to count down the threats they've faced. She left out the ones they fought in the Grand Line. "Let's see. Grimm Invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath…"

"And that's all while we're still in training!" Ruby said cheerfully. "Oh, imagine what it would be like to graduate."

"Maybe go on a cruise when we leave Vale," Weiss muttered.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked, causing her to jump. "Are you going somewhere?"

Ruby, Yang, and Blake turned to stare at Weiss, who cursed. They hadn't planned on telling them that they were going to leave after the festival. It looks like the cats out of the bag.

"What's going on?" Nora asked.

"Weiss said that they are leaving Vale," Ren said.

"What?" Nora said aghast. Jaune and Pyrrha's faces turned into surprise. "Why?"

"It's a long story," Ruby said. "Plus, we're only leaving during the summer break."

"Where are you guys going?" Jaune asked. "Could we come? I know that Nora wants to."

"You betcha!"

Team RWBY looked at each other, unsure of how to respond. For one thing, they couldn't afford to take Team JNPR with them because of the dangers of the Grand Line. With the kind of people, they've faced, they wouldn't last long. Their salvation came thanks to Port and Oobleck.

"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!"

"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!

"Well, it looks like this is it," Pyrrha said getting up with the rest of her team. Nora still looked depressed and Jaune was looking a bit queasy. Ruby tried to cheer them up.

"Go get 'em!"

As they walked away, she turned to see Blake glaring at her.

"Nice going, Weiss."

"I didn't think he would pick up on it!" Weiss insisted.

"What do we do?" Yang asked the obvious question. "We know we can't take them with us. "

Everyone became silent as they walked towards the colosseum. They imagined Team JNPR with their looks of disbelief when they learned that they are pirates. They had seen the atrocities that the World Government had committed in their mission of 'justice'. It was for that same reason that they joined Luffy in his declaration of war against them to help Robin. They are not sure if they are prepared to take on the entire world. As far as they are concerned, they are clean.

It was Ruby that finally spoke.

"We'll just have to tell them the truth," Ruby said. "But let's wait after their fight is over and when they are rested."

"Are you sure that's the best option?" Blake asked.

"They're our friends," Ruby said. "Plus, they'll find out eventually."

"If you say so."

"Now that we've got that out of the way," Yang said. "Let's get to the colosseum!"

[~][~]

**And another chapter is complete. Sorry that I wasn't able to update this soon. These difficult times. With the coronavirus and all that jazz, it's going to be a pain in the butt. I hope you all stay safe and healthy until this all blows over.**

** In the meantime, try to guess the ability that Ruby demonstrated. I'm only going to reveal them until the climax. If you can! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!**

** See you next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter Four: The Drunken Huntsman! Weiss' Older Sister!**

**[~][~]**

"Yeah! Go get 'em Jaune"

"Well, he's certainly improved."

"Yeah, but he ain't got nothing on Pyrrha!"

Team RWBY watched Team JNPR in their match against Team BRNZ. It was clear that three of them favored close combat while one specialized in sniping. After getting charged by electric dust, courtesy of Nolan, Jaune sent Nora to the mountain top to get more power from the dark storm cloud. Ren distracted the sniper while he and Pyrrha engaged the rest. When Ren took Nolan as a human shield, the sniper switched targets to Nora. It would've been a kill shot had Jaune not launched Pyrrha up into the air using his shield as a platform. With the shot blocked, Nora proceeded to fire every grenade she had the sniper. The battle ended when Nora single-handedly hammered them all at once.

"Ouch," Yang commented. "That has got to hurt."

"No kidding" Ruby whistled. "With that amount of electricity pumping in her, she could crush the skull of an elder Ursa."

"You got that right," Weiss said. Then a thought popped into her. "Hey, I just realized something."

"What?"

"Since Nora can absorb electricity, that would make her someone who can beat Eneru."

"You mean that megalomaniac back at Skypiea?" Yang asked with a chuckle. "From what Nami told us, he looked pretty shocked at the fact our captain isn't affected by electricity. I'd pay a hefty sum to see that and replace him with Nora."

"Fortunately, we do," Weiss said. "Courtesy of my father."

Everyone chuckled as they remembered how Weiss _liberated_ half of the family fortune. By then, the next match had started. It was Team NDGO vs. Team SSSN. Weiss wanted their friends' team to win, but after Neptune's flirting with the ladies of NDGO, the heiress wanted them to kick their butt. Things got to a problem when it's revealed that Neptune has a case of aquaphobia.

"He's not going to last long at sea," Weiss said dryly as Neptune scampered to the enemy side.

"Yep," The others said with a small pop.

"So," Weiss said. "While we wait for Neptune to get his act together, we should talk."

"About what?" Ruby asked.

"Telling JNPR everything," Weiss said. "You know, the Grand Line, the Marines, the Seven Warlords, the One Piece… you know, THAT everything. Also, the fact that we are devil fruit users and wanted criminals."

"But they don't know that," Blake said with emphasis on the word _they_. She gestured to the cheering crowd, which watched the spectacle of Team SSSN without breaking their gaze. Weiss gave an apologetic look and Blake nodded. "You're probably right. That does sound too much for them to take."

"I hadn't really thought of that," Ruby admitted. "But I suppose that we should take it slow. I think we should tell them about how we got to the Grand Line first, then wait for them to digest. Then we will see where we go."

"Sounds good to me," Yang said. "You think we should tell them about our fight with the Marines and the Warlords?"

"If it will discourage them, yes," Blake said to their surprise. "Don't try to protest, you know that we can let them follow us to the Grand Line. You know what we faced they won't be able to handle. It's only thanks to Luffy that we made it this far."

Everyone nodded grimly at that. Throughout their voyage, they had come to rely too much on Luffy. It was during their fight with Moria that they opened their eyes to that revelation. Luffy had to use Second Gear and Third Gear to end the fight. Both of these techniques put an enormous strain on him and rendered him unconscious and in pain. This left them at the mercy of the second Warlord of the Sea, Bartholomew Kuma.

"She's right," Ruby said with a firm voice. "If that isn't enough, remember that we are enemies of the World Government. Over here, they have a clean slate."

"But I have no regrets," Yang said with a growl. "After the hell they put Robin through, I wouldn't care if they had sent an entire fleet for us. But yeah, you're right. We can't involve them with us."

"Same here," Weiss said. "I'd rather be a criminal than be with those stuck ups."

"Took the words out of my mouth," Blake said with a hiss.

Everyone nodded with a determined look. They felt the same. They were silent as they continued to watch the match. So far, only Sun and Neptune of Team SSSN remain with Dew Nebula and Gwen of Team NDGO.

"It's going to break their hearts," Ruby said with sadness.

"Hey, better than leaving them without answers," Yang said, remembering bad memories. "It's cruel to just leave your crew like that."

The bell klaxon sounded as the match ended. Neptune ironically used the water to act as a conductor for the electricity shout out from Tri-Hard. This shocked the rest of NDGO into submission, taking them down for the count.

"That was close!" Ruby said as she leaned back in her seat.

"Looks like the dorks made it to the next round!" Yang said to Blake, her anger fading and becoming jovial. Blake looks down at the arena where Sun and Neptune were dancing like fools. The monkey faunus gave her a special double-gun gesture with a wink, eliciting a blush and small smile from her.

"Emphasis on _dork_."

"That concludes the matches for today," Oobleck said over the sound system. "Please leave the coliseum IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!"

Team RWBY flinched at the unexpected volume change.

"Does he have to do that?" Weiss complained.

"He just wants to make sure that the message is received," Yang said. "Come on, let's go congratulate JNPR and SSSN."

The four girls got up and start to head out. Just then, an aircraft with elegant ribbons flying from its wings passed over the colosseum. Weiss stopped in her tracks as she saw it, oblivious to Ruby bumping into her. Her face is a mix of joy and anxiety.

"Uh, what are you viewing?"

"She's here!"

* * *

"Wait, that's your sister's ship?" Ruby asked as she and her partner ran up the main avenue towards the docking bays. The sky is dusk and there are still people about in the couryard.

"Yep," Weiss said. "She's the one who taught me everything! Combat and my semblance. Ooh I can't wait to tell her about how strong and my adventures—"

Suddenly she stopped.

"Wait a minute, I CAN'T TELL HER!" Weiss nearly shrieked as she remembered that she was a pirate. Her elder sister literally worked with the man in charge of security for the Vytal Festival. Winter is also very strict and plays by the book. She didn't want to imagine how she would react to the news that she's a wanted criminal.

Ruby noticed her hesitation. "Let me guess…she's like Smokey?"

"Accurately put," Weiss said. The Commodore of the Marines is an accurate description of her sister. All she needs to do is eat the Plume-Plume fruit and replace her rapier with a sea stone club.

Her partner placed a hand on her shoulder. "We just don't need to tell her then. Just focus on what you've done as a huntress! Or a huntress-in-training! Like how we kicked butt at the breach! Or how you are doing in school! Or how about—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Weiss said with a smile. She straightens herself up and walked forward calmly as she could. As they approached the ship, Winter descended on a ramp, escorted by crimson-colored Atlas soldiers and Atlesian Knight-200's.

Weiss cupped her mouth and shouted, "Winter! It's so good to see you!"

Winter turned around as they approached them. "Beacon…it's been a long time. The air feels…different."

"Maybe because of it's fall?" Ruby asked, earning her a punch into the shoulder from Weiss.

"So, what are you doing here? Providing more security for the tournament?"

"Classified."

"Oh, right. Well, how long are you staying?"

"_Classified_," Winter repeated with emphasis.

"Of course," Weiss said, nodding in understanding.

"Well…" Ruby said awkwardly. "This is nice…I think."

"You're going to love it here!" Weiss said excitedly. "I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! For example, there's the fact that we don't—"

"I'm more than familiar with this kingdom," Winter interrupted. "That is not why I came."

"Right! I'm sorry!"

"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it appears that I have no choice in the matter."

"But we won!" Weiss said in apparent confusion.

"Only a novice would refer to _that _as a victory. You didn't even lift a finger and let someone else finish the battle. That victory goes to this young lady here."

She gestured to Ruby.

"I would but I didn't want to expose my devil fruit," Weiss mumbled under her breath to make sure that Winter didn't hear.

"Leave us," Winter said to her security. The AK-200s obeyed, walking two steps backward into formation. The elder Schnee sighs and smiles a little warmly at Weiss. "How have you been?"

"Oh, splendid," Weiss said, snapping out of her funk. "Thank you for asking. I've managed to make my way up to the top of our sparring class! The rest of my studies are going wonderfully, too! I'm—"

Weiss stopped just in time to grab Winter's arm as it was coming down to bonk her on the head. The AK-200s shifted and aimed their rifles at her. Weiss seemed to realize what she had done and withdrew her hand.

"I'm so sorry," Weiss apologized. "It was a force of habit! It won't happen again!"

"Don't," Winter said. If one were perceptive, you could hear the surprise in her tone. She waved off her security and they lowered their weapons. "It may be a good habit to have. Also, I didn't ask about your ranking, I'm asking how you've been. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"

"Well, there's Ruby," Weiss said, pointing to her leader.

"I see," Winter said. "So, this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately…underwhelming."

"Uh…thank you!"

"Greetings, Ruby Rose," Winter said. "I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister. Also, I would like to say that I've never seen a match end so quickly like that."

"Oh! Uh, yes, of course!" Ruby attempted to salute and curtsy. "The honor is in my…court!

She nearly lost her balance with the gesture, waving her arms until she got back up. Winter turned back to Weiss.

"I have business with the General and your Headmaster. But seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"

"Really?"

"Yes," winter said as she and Weiss begin walking towards the Academy, followed by the androids. "I wish to inspect them and make sure that they are up to my personal standards."

"Of course," Weiss said before leaning in. "Just so you're aware, the bunk beds only _look _unstable."

"Bunk beds?"

Weiss mentally sighed in relief. So far, as she is concerned, Winter is occupied with something else. She had been glad to make sure she didn't send any letters about her adventures in the Grand Line when she got back. It had been a really close call when Winter bonked her on the head.

The last thing she needed was to see her sister's face when she sees her in pieces.

* * *

Winter could already tell that something was up with Weiss.

As they walked and talked, she studied her body language. Despite being glad to see her, Weiss' twitched with nervousness. She would talk about something like the breach that happened nearly a few weeks ago and the Vytal festival match her leader won. It was like she is trying to hide something.

This has the specialist concerned.

"Weiss?"

"Yes, Winter?

"Is there something—"

She is interrupted by the sound of metal. Behind her, she also heard metal scraping against the crowd.

"Hey!"

When she turned around, it took all the will she had to not groan in frustration. The man standing over a decapitated AK-200 is someone she is familiar with. Unfortunately.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you, Ice Queen!" Qrow Branwen shouted as he tossed the machine aside.

One of her automated soldiers advanced but Winter ordered it to halt. From behind her, Weiss muttered, "Great, another drunk swordsman."

"Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here, too."

"I'm standing right before you," Winter said coldly.

Qrow squinted through his hazy state of mind. "So, it would seem."

"You realize you've just destroyed Atlas Military property."

Qrow looked at the wreckage he'd done with faux surprise. "Oh, oh I'm sorry. See, I mistook this for some sort of… sentient garbage."

"I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow."

"You know him?" Weiss asked.

"Geez," Qrow drawled. "You Atlas Specialists think you're so special, don't you?"

"It's _in_ the title."

"Well, you know what you really are?" Qrow asked. "A bunch of sellouts. Just like your boss."

"I'm not sure what you _think_ you're implying," Winter said dangerously. "But I've heard enough."

"Oh I heard, too," Qrow retorted. "I heard ol' Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin."

"Ozpin?" Weiss asked.

"Weiss, it's time for you to go," Winter said as she shoved her aside.

"What—"

"Listen to big sister, Weiss," Qrow said at the display. "She'll protect you. Just like Atlas is going to protect all of us, huh?"

"If you won't hold your tongue," Winter growled as she drew her sword. "Then I will gladly remove it for you!"

"Alright then…" Qrow said as he slicked back his hair. He gave her a challenging smile. "Come take it."

The square is clear by now. With a burst of speed, Winter charged at Qrow. She thrust her sword forward to put this man in his place…

…only to stop before she hit a white blade.

"What the?" Winter gazed in shock at the being between her and Qrow. From a glyph on the ground between them, something blocked them. It looked to be a giant empty white suit of armor. It held a great blade in its hands with the tip at the ground. Qrow was gaping at the interloper as well, rubbing his arm against his eyes to make sure he was seeing straight.

Winter turned around to see what she knew had to be the source. Weiss stood there, holding a hand in front of her. Her eyes are looking at Winter with…disappointment?

"Weiss," She spoke. "You've…"

"Winter," Weiss interrupted. "Please control yourself!"

"What?"

"You are an Atlesian Specialist," Weiss spoke as if scolding a child. "Is attacking somebody over petty insults what they teach you in the Atlas Military? You could very well start an international incident!"

"Weiss," Winter couldn't believe that her younger sister is scolding her. "He's destroyed Atlas property and insulted our homeland and my general."

"Winter," Weiss spoke sternly. "There are some things that are worth fighting about. Getting into a fight with a drunken man isn't one of them. If he wants to rant about his views on Atlas, let him. Please, let's just leave before this escalates, we're already drawing a crowd with your verbal joust."

She gestured to the crowd around them. They are taking pictures at Weiss' summon.

"Or," Weiss said. "I could _make_ it an incident if you prefer."

The summon hefted its sword over its shoulder and took a battle-ready stance.

"Alright," Winter said after taking a deep breath. She sheathed her sword. "But I will be reporting this to the headmaster."

"Of course," Weiss conceded. With a snap of her finger, the summon vanished. Together, the Schnee sisters continued their course to Beacon.

"Saved by your little sister, huh ice queen?" Qrow laughed after them. "Not to mention she gave you a good scolding! Aren't you supposed to be the older sister?"

Winter would've retorted if it weren't for Weiss. Despite the insults, Weiss didn't acknowledge him or even respond. As they walked, they ran into Ruby again.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Some obnoxious man tried to pick a fight with my sister," Weiss answered. "Did I forget to mention that it would result in a massive incident?"

"What? Who would do something—UNCLE QROW?" Ruby exclaimed.

"Wait, you know him?"

"Yep," Ruby said. Upon seeing the looks on their faces, she frowned. "Was he drunk again?"

"Yep," Weiss said simply. "Can you have a word with him please?"

"Sure," Ruby said. Then, with a burst of her semblance, she sped over to Qrow and latched onto his arm.

"Hi," She said. "Oh, it's so good to see you! Did you miss me? DID YOU MISS ME?"

Qrow stared at her and gave her a playful noogie. "Nope."

Ruby giggled before unwrapping her arms. Her joyful expression became serious.

"You were drunk again? Seriously?"

"Can't help it."

* * *

Ozpin mentally sighed at the exchange going on before him.

After taking a tour to Team RWBY's room, Winter came and reported about Qrow's unruly behavior. Ironwood got mad at this and even madder when Qrow came to his office unrepentant. Then he complained about how they didn't bother to tell him about how the enemy is already within their midst.

His thoughts drifted back to the incident that occurred before the festival. Clearly something had happened with Team RWBY. Not just the depression, but the way they acted. When they were in the arena, they faced the opposing team as if they knew they were going to be defeated. In his years of reincarnating, he picked up this skill. It was proven true when Ruby unexpectedly unleased that new upgrade to Crescent Rose.

The old wizard needed answers.

"Before you leave," Ozpin said to Winter when General Ironwood ordered her to leave at the bequest of Qrow. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Oz?" Qrow looked at him like he lost his mind.

"This concerns you as well Qrow," Ozpin said. Qrow looked surprised and points to himself. "It's about your nieces and Specialist Schnee's sister."

"Weiss?" Winter's look of annoyance became one of concern. "Has she done something wrong headmaster?"

"No," Ozpin shook his head. "Though it has been resolved, something happened a week before the festival."

Qrow's face became serious. "What happened?"

"In one night, the dorm was destroyed," Goodwitch explained. She held the disciplinarian at arm's length at the huntsman. "Don't even think about it."

"Wasn't going to," Qrow said, failing to hide a snicker.

"Anyways, I brought them here for lecturing. However, as Ozpin pointed out they seemed…depressed?"

"Depressed?" Qrow asked. He's going to have a word with whoever made his nieces miserable. "Maybe you didn't hear me ask this, so I'll repeat it. What happened?"

"I would like to know as well," Winter said. For the first time, she didn't mind Qrow's presence."

"We don't know," Ozpin admitted. "From that day on, Team RWBY showed little effort in their studies and became more depressed. Eventually, it stopped and they showed signs of becoming more active, otherwise, they wouldn't have done well in the tournament. I just thought that you should know."

"I know, thank you," Qrow nodded. "I'll talk with them after this. In the meantime, shouldn't someone be leaving?"

"I was going to talk to my sister," Winter said as she walked to the elevator. Both of them are concerned about their families. They needed to find out what happened.

* * *

"I'm telling you I saw him."

Cinder walked back in forth as Mercury gave his report. Qrow had been the same man who interrupted the process of getting what was hers. Thanks to him, she only had half the power. Which is why she needed to find her.

"And you're sure?"

"Bad hair, used a scythe, and smelled like my dad after a long day," Mercury said. "It was him."

"What should we do?" Emerald asked from the bed.

"Nothing," Cinder said. "We stay the course. They have no idea who we are, so we have no reason to worry. Besides, the last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of thanks to our clever little friend."

She picked up her scroll as it flashes with a black queen chess piece. "Speaking of which…it appears we have a new access point."

"Anywhere good?"

"You could say that. Go to your rooms. I'll prepare everything for tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am," Emerald said. Then she asked a question. "What about team RWBY?"

Cinder frowned at that. When Emerald told her about how the heiress prevented her from pickpocketing her leader, she had her suspicions that something was up. When Team RWBY was in the arena, they didn't walk like the naïve girls that she thought that they were. They walked with confidence and relaxed, something that didn't bode well with her plans. She was more shocked than Ruby Rose had a weapon with that amount of firepower. Clearly something was up, and she didn't like unknown factors.

"See what you can gather on them, "Cinder ordered. "But first, I believe that you have a match."

"Got it," Mercury said.

"Let's give the crowd a good fight," Cinder said as she began to rig the match-up screen.

**[~][~]**

** Another chapter is done. Looks like Ozpin and company are beginning to investigate what happened with RWBY. That includes Cinder and her Circus Cronies. What will they find out? And can JNPR handle their friends leaving? Anyway, I hope you all stay strong in this pandemic. I know it's difficult, but we will survive.**

** Keep the faith that we will survive.**

** See you all next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 5: Family Discussion! Weiss' Declaration!**

**[~][~]**

_"So, your sister is in the military?" Nami asked. To which Weiss nodded._

_ "She's the best sister anyone could've asked for," Weiss said proudly. "She taught me combat and my glyphs. She was the heiress tot eh Schnee Dust Company before she ran off to join. She rose through the ranks and became part of the Special Operatives Unit."_

_ The navigator and heiress are sitting in the mess quarters. It has been several days since Team RWBY had arrived on their ship and the Grand Line. They are still sailing for Alabasta, and the crew is doing what they desire at the moment. At one point, this conversation came up._

_ "She must be pretty strong," Nami commented. "I have a sister as well. Her name is Nojiko."_

_ "Nojiko?" Weiss asked with curiosity. "Is she a pirate too?"_

_ "Nope," Nami said with a small laugh. "I wish that were the case. She owns a tangerine farm back at my home village."_

_ "That explains the Tangerine trees," Weiss said. Their ship has three tangerine trees at the top of the deck. She had to admit that they provided them with a source of Vitamin C. Nami had but Sanji in charge of protecting them from anyone who would try to steal any of them, namely Luffy. After tasting one, Weiss found the reason why._

_ "They're delicious."_

_ "Thank you," Nami said. "It used to be run by my mother. Fair warning, if you ever insulted them around her, she will kick your ass."_

_ "Your mother huh…" Weiss muttered, looking forlorn. Nami seemed to have noticed this._

_ "Something wrong?" Nami asked._

_ "It's nothing," Weiss said a little too quickly. She could feel Nami's gaze on her, concern etched on her face._

_ "It's just…what's your mother like?"_

_ "Her name is Bell-mère," Nami said. "From what the villagers had told me, she was quite the troublemaker. Even when she joined the Marines, she remained troublesome."_

_ "Your mother was a marine?"_

_ "Yep, and that was how she met me and Nojiko," Nami continued. "She was fighting in a battle and she laid wounded and dying. Right when she was about to give up and die, she saw Nojiko carrying me. I was only two years old at that time, so I was smiling blissfully. Seeing us, it gave her more life and she took us back to Cocoyashi village. She even demanded that we are treated before her."_

_ "Really?" Weiss asked with genuine surprise. By the sound of it, Bell-mère was a good mother. Then she realized something. "You said that your mother found you…does that mean…"_

_ "That we are adopted? Yes," Nami said. "Belle-mère, rather than send us to the marines for adoption, decided right there to adopt us. You wouldn't believe the protests that the villagers had with that."_

_ "I'm sure that she is. You're lucky to have a mother like her," Weiss said. Nami looked at her with a puzzled expression. Seeing how she cannot leave this discussion, Weiss continued. "It's just…you're lucky you have a mother like her."_

_ "Why would you say that?" Nami asked in concern._

_ "It's because she's…" Weiss tried to find the right words. "You remember when I told everyone that my family owns the Schnee Dust Company. Though it's my father that runs it these days."_

_ "Yeah," Nami nodded. She mirrored her crewmates' surprise that the heiress is heir to a company that makes a profit off of dust. Weiss corrected them by explaining the concepts of Dust back at their home. Luffy became ecstatic of the elemental powers they possessed and wanted to eat one of them. Everyone right there made a vow to keep him away from dust. "I heard they're pretty valuable."_

_ "You got that right," Weiss said, narrowing her eyes when she mentioned valuable. "The SDC was founded by my grandfather, Nicholas Schnee. Back in the day, he used to mine with his father in Mantle. Upon his father's death, he inherited what little his father had and used it to gather a mining team. He oversaw dust expeditions and around the world. Thanks to him, he built a trustworthy, upstanding reputation for our family."_

_ Her face became downcast again._

_ "Those days ended when my father, Jacques Gelé, came into the family," Weiss continued. "Grandfather's health was failing because of his time in the mines. Somehow, he managed to convince our grandfather that he's the right man to take over. Under his leadership, he employed morally questionable business tactics. He drove smaller dust companies out of business even if they weren't a threat to him. My father exploited the underprivileged of Mantle and other Kingdoms to work in the dust mines. It's a dangerous occupation that often results in injuries or…accidental deaths."_

_ Nami's eyes narrowed at that._

_ "Sounds like your father is a scumbag," Nami noted._

_ "That would be an understatement," Weiss said as she nods her head in agreement. "Most of the victims were faunus. This leads the White Fang, a radical organization, to declare war on my family. A lot of people died, and it was all because of his desire for another lien."_

_ She took a deep breath to compose herself. Then she continued._

_ "That wasn't the worse of it. He was very…abusive towards us," Weiss said, and the navigator's eyes hardened into a glare. "Turned out that he only married my mother just so he can get the Schnee name. He told her so on my tenth birthday. When my mother heard that, she couldn't cope. So, she picked up a wine bottle and drank. Then another, and another, and by the time I left for Beacon, I hardly saw her without a glass of wine in hand."_

_ Weiss stopped talking. Nami was silent, but her face made it clear that she is angry. Angry at the monster that is Weiss' father._

_ "Did your father gave you that scar?" Nami asked. She pointed to the scar on her left eye._

_ "In a way, yes," Weiss said, tracing the car with her index finger. "I didn't want to be my father's singing bird anymore, so I told him I wanted to become a huntress. He didn't like that one bit, so he gave me a test. If I defeat a certain type of Grimm, an Armas Gigas, then he'll let me go. In the end, I got this scar and the ability to go to Beacon."_

_ Weiss finally stopped talking. At the corner of her eyes, a tear was threatening to drop. Nami placed a hand on her shoulder._

_ "I'm sorry Weiss," She said softly. "You've had it rough than the people who worked for your father."_

_ "Thanks," Weiss said with a sad smile. "That's why you're lucky you have a parent that loves you. IT's enough to make me jealous. My mother wasn't there when my father was cracking down on us. He started with Winter. When she left, he moved onto me. I do not doubt that Whitley, my younger brother, is the next one. Considering that he takes after my father well, he doesn't like me and Winter. Our family is messed up."_

_ "No kidding," Nami said shaking her head. "But while your mother hasn't been helpful for you, I do not doubt that she still loves you."_

_ "How can you say that?" Weiss asked, anger in her tone. "She left us to that man for seven years! At least you had a mother who cared about you!"_

_ "I know," Nami said. "And I wished that I could take it all back."_

_ "What do you mean?" Weiss asked, her anger fading._

_ "I'm going, to be honest with you Weiss," Nami said. "My relationship with Bell-mère wasn't as glamorous as you put it. Our family struggled to make ends meet when I and Nokjiko were kids. I would steal books that I knew we couldn't afford, and I would get hand me downs from my sister. It was because of our lack of wealth and general poverty that we struggled. It was made worse when the tangerine sale went down. I didn't feel that Bell-mère and Nojiko were my actual family. At one point…"_

_ Nami took a deep breath._

_ "I told her that I wished I was adopted by rich parents."_

_ Weiss covered her mouth as she gasped at what Nami had just told her._

_ "I ran away after that and went to the sheriff," Nami continued. "He told me everything and how much she cared for us. I came to regret those words because of that same day, my village was attacked by pirates. They were led by a cruel Fishman pirate named Arlong."_

_ "Fishman?"_

_ "It's like the faunus but different. Anyway, Arlong and his crew invaded and took over my village. Bell-mère fought back but failed. Arlong imposed a fee on every single adult and child in the village to live."_

_ Nami stopped talking and cast her gaze down. Weiss's mind is in a maelstrom at what she was hearing. She can see the similarities between the White Fang and Arlong. But this?_

_ "You don't have to continue…" Weiss began._

_ "It's alright," Nami said. "My mother could only afford the fee for either herself or me and Nojiko. She could've chosen to keep our existence a secret, after what I said to her and Nojiko. But she didn't. To set an example for not paying the fee…"_

_ Nami's eyes darkened._

_ "Arlong killed Bell-mère…" She said quietly. "Right in front of us."_

_ Weiss couldn't say anything. She knew that Ruby had lost her mother at a young age. But she was spared the horror of watching her die right in front of you._

_ "Her last words were that she's sorry that she wasn't rich enough and that she loved us."_

_ Nami finished speaking and hugged her sides. Even if it had been a few days, those memories haunted her._

_ "Nami…I'm so sorry…" Weiss said, and she meant it. Arlong was ten times worse than her father._

_ "It's alright," Nami said. "After that, Arlong kidnapped and forced me to join his crew. This used to be a tattoo of their jolly roger." Nami gestured to her left upper arm where a stylized 'S' is. "He found out about my talent for making maps and he forced me to make sea charts for him for the rest of my childhood. Those years were absolute hell."_

_ Then she looked up._

_ "Then he offered me a deal. If I brought him 100,000,000 berries, he will free my village. For the next eight years, I plowed the seas stealing treasure. I mostly steal from pirates because they are like gold mines for treasure."_

_ "Is that why you love money so much?" Weiss asked. The pirates had warned her and her team about the thief's love for money._

_ "Yep," Nami nodded with a chuckle. "At one point, I met Luffy. He wanted me to join his crew as a navigator, but I refused. Back then I hated pirates, but I temporarily joined him so I could steal his treasure. I also stole his ship to get back to my home island."_

_ Nami's smile faded._

_ "When I came back, I found out that he never intended to keep his promise," She said darkly. "He has been bribing the local marines to overlook his activities. He used the money I was raising to free my village to pay him off. The villagers wanted to fight back rather than live under Arlongs rule. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to me."_

_ That look of despair became one of joy._

_ "Right when I was about to give up, Luffy helped me," She said. "Despite what I've done, he still came after me. When he heard my plea for help, he and the others walked to Arlongs place and kicked him and his crew's ass. Thanks to him, I and my village are free."_

_ "Luffy did?" Weiss asked. During their first days, she found the captain of the pirate crew to be…underwhelming. He goofs around, picks his nose, and eats meat all day. Not to mention his apparent lack of intelligence. After hearing Nami's story and witnessing his prowess in combat, she can see why. Luffy seemingly had an endless amount of optimism, similar to Ruby._

_ "Yep, despite being an idiot, he's a good idiot," Nami said. "He was so insistent on making me his navigator, that I officially joined."_

_ They shared a smile._

_ "But I didn't tell you my life story just to relate," Nami said. "I'm telling it to you because you can do it too."_

_ "Huh?"_

_ "Bell-mère once told me that if you can survive, then happy times, lots of them, will come your way," Nami said to the confused heiress. "Sure, you may have to put up with your insufferable father for now, but it's not going to be forever. Soon, you will be free of him, just like me. One day, your family will be rid of him."_

_ "You believe that?"_

_ "Yep," Nami said. "Tell me something, did you listen to your father when you decided to become a huntress?"_

_ "No," Weiss said firmly._

_ "Neither would I if my mother didn't want me to be a pirate," Nami said, remembering Bell-mère's ghost when she visited her grave. "Despite relying on your father for money, his grip on your life isn't that tight. The only thing he hasn't taken is your freedom. That's the one thing we pirates have that he doesn't."_

_ Weiss looked at her with surprise at what she is saying._

_ "While we are on the subject," Nami continued with a mischievous grin. "If we ever get to your home, alright if I rob your family?"_

_ "No!" Weiss shouted. "No! Of course not! I happen to be—"_

_ "What if I say it's your father that I wanted to rob?"_

_ Weiss stopped yelling and thought about it. Now that she mentioned it, he does seem to love money as much as himself. He even has a big portrait of himself in his study._

_ "Only if I get to do it too."_

_ "Already you are acting like a pirate," Nami chuckled. Then she remembered something. "That reminds me, what are you going to tell your sister when you see her? From what you told me I don't think she'll take it well that you're technically a pirate."_

_ Weiss froze up at that. Time seemed to have stopped for the heiress. Then she gave a nervous smile._

_ "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."_

* * *

_HOW DO I CROSS THIS BRIDGE?_ Weiss screamed in her head. She sat ramrod straight in her chair at a table in the academy garden pavilions gazebo. On the opposite side sat her sister Winter, who stared at her with a scrutiny gaze. On the bale are croissants and strawberries. They had been talking for nearly an hour, at which Weiss learned that her sister will be leaving. She only came to Beacon to deliver the Paladins and make sure they get there. From there they talked casually. Winter reminisced about how their father reacted to her attending Beacon.

Yet Weiss could help but feel that her sister is suspicious.

_What do I say? Hey Winter…I went to another world where pirates still ruled the seas. On top of that, I became a pirate! Shocker huh? NO, bad idea Weiss! She won't believe you and even if she did, she'll be disgusted with you for the rest of your life! Unless I show her my devil fruit power…will she freak?_

"Weiss?"

Weiss jumped at the sound of her sister's voice. "Yes?"

"I was just saying that you've improved your summoning," Winter said with a look of praise laced of concern. "Not to mention you've…matured since I last saw you. Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, yes I am," Weiss composed herself. "Thank you for asking. I've been working on it all term! It was difficult, but once I got it, I started practicing…"

"Would this difficulty happen to do with your period of depression?" Winter asked. She sighed when Weiss tensed up. "You don't have to hide it from me, Weiss, your headmaster told me that you and your teammates were depressed for a short time. That and you destroyed your dorm room in one night."

"Ozpin did…?"

"He was concerned about you," Winter said. "Weiss, did something happen? Did father do something to you after you took nearly half the family fortune?"

"You know about that?"

"He was venting to Ironwood," Winter said. "He was also going on about canceling your credit card."

Weiss stared at her for a moment before bursting out in laughter. Winter looked confused at this reaction.

"Seriously?" Weiss said with an evil chuckle. "That's the best that walking hot air balloon can do? That's nothing compared to what I have planned for him…"

"Planned?"

"Oh, nothing!" Weiss said, placating her hands. Then she got back to the subject, choosing her words carefully. "You see…a few weeks ago, we were in a fix. We were lost on what to do before we met some…remarkable people on an online game. They helped us out and eventually we became friends."

"Friends?" Winter asked intrigued. She was happy to see Weiss getting new friends. "I wasn't aware that you've made friends outside of Beacon. What can you tell me about them?"

"For a lack of a better term, I'd say they are a wild bunch," Weiss said. "Our Cap— one of our friends eats meat all day and would steal our food every meal. Another one drinks and gets lost, which is irritating. Then another one keeps stealing my money!"

"A thief?" Winter asked frowning. "How did she steal your money online and why didn't you report it to the police?"

"Long story, but she's a good person," Weiss said quickly. "It's all part of a bet that we made. I am in debt to her for a purchase I made online and made a bet with me. If I get more money than her, then she wipes away the debt. On the other hand, she'll double it if she wins. Everything is fair and free in getting the money."

Then Weiss's shoulders slumped.

"By the time I realized it, we already agreed. Thanks to that, she's been taking some of the money I earned."

"Why did you agree to the bet?" Winter asked. "You could've just said no?"

"Because I want to get rid of the debt that badly," Weiss said. "And I learned that sometimes, you don't have to play by the rules. That's because life is never fair to you. So, I'm going to beat her at her own game!"

Weiss had pumped a fist for emphasis.

"That's certainly true," Winter nodded. There are times when the specialist encountered people who would play dirty. "Anyone else."

"There's also a pathological liar, a cook, a doctor, an archaeologist, a shipwright, and a musician," Weiss said. At the last word, she sighed dreamily. "Despite his looks, he makes the best music that I've ever heard. I've even improved my singing."

"I see…" Winter said slowly. "Aside from a few exceptions, why do you hang out with these people?"

"They have their quirks," Weiss admitted. "But they are good people. Nami, despite her unhealthy love of money, cares about people. They're also the ones who helped me with my summoning."

Weiss, for emphasis, held out a hand with a small glyph. What came out is a miniature version of the Armas Gigas. The tiny knight had its big sword leaning on its shoulder.

"As I said, Impressive," Winter said looking at it. "How did they help?"

"Well… to make a long story short…"

* * *

_"You can summon monsters?"_

_ "Yep," Weiss astutely nodded. She sat with Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper on the deck of the ship. They were curious about Weiss' semblance. After seeing it so many times they finally asked about them. After telling them about the applications of her semblance, they were amazed. But when she told them that she needed Myrtenaster to utilize its full capabilities, they were bummed out. Weiss, feeling insecure, blabbed about how her semblance allows her to summon enemies that she defeated in the past. Namely the Grimm._

_ "That's so cool!" Chopper said with starry eyes. "I want a semblance now!"_

_ "With an ability like that, we'd be unstoppable!" Usopp said with stars in his eyes. "And, because it's not a devil fruit power, it can't be nullified unless your aura breaks!"_

_ "Can we see one?" Luffy asked with the curiosity of an innocent child "Can we?"_

_ "I can't," Weiss said bluntly, causing them to fall onto the floor, legs sticking up._

_ "WHAT?" They yelled as they sat back up. Their mouths hang open with shock. "Why not?"_

_ "Because I'm not good at it," Weiss said. "My sister has been telling me to work on it, but I can't seem to grasp it. No matter how much I try, it isn't my strong suit."_

_ The three Strawhats took a moment to register her words._

_ "So, you gave up because you're not good at it?" Luffy asked, sticking a finger up his nose. "Lame."_

_ "Hey!" Weiss recoiled away from Luffy._

_ "If you ask me, that's a pretty lame excuse," Usopp agreed. "Even for you Weiss."_

_ "Are you saying I am lazy!?"_

_ "It wasn't easy learning medicine," Chopper chimed in, slamming his front hooves onto the table. "It took me years under Doctor Kureha to get to where I am now. You can't just give up because it is hard! Otherwise, how can you achieve your dream?"_

_ "That's right!" Luffy nodded. "Which is why I am ordering you to practice your semblance until you can summon a monster!"_

_ "Why would I take orders from you?" Weiss demanded._

_ "Because I am the captain," Luffy jerked his thumb towards himself. "And you are part of my crew! The captain's job is to look after his crew while they are at sea. That includes helping them get stronger!"_

_ "What's going on?" Zoro asked as he walked over with a. bottle of booze in his hand._

_ "We're going to help Weiss with her summoning," The Straw Hat captain declared._

_ "Summoning?"_

_ "Yeah, Weiss can summon monsters," Chopper said excitedly_

_ The booze bottle stopped at his lips. "Oh?"_

_ "Problem is that she's a quitter," Usopp said. He continued before Weiss can protest to that. "But with the help of the wise legendary captain Usopp, we can help her overcome those obstacles and succeed!"_

_ "Sounds interesting," Zoro said. He grew a predatory grin as his hand felt the hilt of his katanas. "I heard from Ruby about those Grimm. If she can summon them, it can make my workout sessions more challenging. Count me in."_

_ "Hey!" Weiss shouted. "I'm not your training dummy!"_

_ "What the heck is going on?!" Nami shouted as she kicked the door to the cabin open and stomp onto the deck. In her hands, she held a quill and a piece of paper. "I am trying to write down a chart!"_

_ "We're helping snow princess here with her summoning," Zoro said._

_ "Hey!"_

_ "Summoning?" Nami asked, her previous bout of anger fading fast._

_ "Turns out, those glyphs of hers can also summon monsters," Zoro explained. "Problem is that she sucks at it, so we are helping her out. Considering that we get into fights with pirates and the marines, it can be handy to have more numbers."_

_ "Hmm…" Nami pondered that. A thought cloud appeared above her head. A mini her and Weiss walk up to a sealed vault. Mini-Weiss conjured a white monster that smashed the vault, causing it to spill treasure from the crack. Mini-Nami rushed forward and began tossing gold coins into the air, making it rain treasure._

_ The moment the thought cloud disappeared, Nami suddenly had berry dollar signs in her eyes. Followed by a cashier sound._

_ "Give me a second," Nami said as she turned and walk back to the cabin. On the way, she flipped the chart she was working on to the blank side and wrote something down. She entered the cabin and slammed the door. A few minutes later, she ran back outside, holding the paper for all to see._

_ "Got it approved!" Nami shouted. "There's an island nearby that we can stop by to help her train! Set a course!"_

_ "What?" Weiss grabbed the paper, but Nami held it at arm's length. She can see that it looks like a contract. At the bottom of the paper are the signatures of her TEAMMATES! They sold her out! "How did that happen?"_

_ "With a little thing called facts," Nami said smugly. "Don't worry Weiss! We'll get you to master summoning in no time!"_

_ "But you guys don't even know about—"_

_ "You just want to exploit snow princess, don't you?" Zoro asked over Weiss in a flat tone._

_ "Don't know what you are talking about!"_

_ "How dare you!" Sanji yelled as he walked out of the cabin and put his face into his. He had been cooking lunch when he heard all of the noise. "My dear Nami would never exploit my elegant Weiss! What are you trying to pull moss head?"_

_ "We're trying to help her with her summoning, love cook," Zoro growled._

_ "They're not!"_

_ "And we will need your help Sanji," Nami said. "Can you make a food plan for her for the duration of the training session?"_

_ "You got it Nami dear!" Sanji said with hearts in his eyes. "Anything for my dear Weiss! I'll cook food that will replenish her stamina when she gets exhausted!"_

_ "Hey!"_

_ "I'll go prepare my medical kit! I have to be prepared to treat any injuries!"_

_ "Injuries? What are you planning on doing to me?"_

_ "I call dibs on hunting meat!"_

_ "Why would meat be part of this?_

_ "I'll set up an obstacle course!_

_ "LISTEN TO ME!"_

* * *

"We trained nonstop for who knows how long," Weiss said. "I lost track of the time from the training. They wouldn't stop until I was able to summon. From there, I practiced summoning until I can do it on muscle memory."

Winter nodded. Despite not knowing what the training method was used, she's proud to see Weiss had mastered summoning. "I have nothing left to teach you then. Just remember that it will only get you so far. By combining your swordplay and glyphs, you can excel in combat. You must never stop growing."

"Of course," Weiss nodded. They were silent for a few moments. Then she continued by getting back to the original subject.

"The reason why we were depressed is that we lost contact with them," Weiss continued. "We thought they were dead, but that's not the case. We have no way of contacting them, so we can't know for sure."

"Weiss stopped talking, a look of worry crossed her face. Winter reached over and placed a hand over hers for comfort.

"I'm sorry Weiss," Winter said gently. "If you need help finding them, I can check my contacts back at Atlas."

"It's alright Winter," Weiss said with a small smile. "I do not doubt that I will be able to find them. Thanks anyway."

"Just let me know when I can help," Winter said. She decided to file her question about finding people she only met online for later. "Anyway, have you thought about it?"

"About what?"

"Your path in life," Winter clarified. "Are you going to continue to rely on father and his money, or are you planning on continuing as a huntress? Unless you want to go back to that place."

Winter figured Weiss would get a dark look at the mention of the Schnee Family Manor. The memories of that place were out of their father's constant abuse of them. What she didn't expect to see was Weiss' smile.

"I thought it was obvious when I took half the fortune. I'm going on my path. My dream."

"Dream…?"

"I didn't just improve my combat skill or my semblance," Weiss said. "The time I had with my new friends made me realize something."

She turned to the direction where the heiress knew was the sea.

"Have you ever seen the sea before? The actual one, not the one in a picture."

"I have several times," Winter said perplexed. "Why are you…"

"Because I've seen it also," Weiss said. "It made me see that the world is so much bigger than I realized. Much bigger than my father can ever hope to touch. Luffy, one of my new friends, told me that there are adventures out there waiting. I want to see it all."

"Weiss…" Winter smiled. "I'm proud of you. What you do with your life is up to you. Don't ever forget that."

Winter is glad that Weiss had met these new friends of hers. The crying baby sister is now taking a step forward. Making her life her own.

"Speaking of which, want to spar with me?" Weiss asked. "I've learned a few things in swordplay from one of my friends."

"I would like that."

* * *

"You are the worst!"

Qrow chuckled as Yang threw her scroll at the wall in a huff. After his talk with Ozpin, he went to his niece's dorm to spend some quality time with them. Ruby had run off to work on a 'personal project', therefore, she couldn't participate in the gaming festivities. Only Yang seemed to know what she is working on but said she promised to keep her lips sealed.

They settled on a few rounds of video games. Qrow had won most of them by distracting Yang with stories of his missions. Right up to the part where it gets dirty.

"I'll get you next time!" Yang declared, snatching up her scroll.

"Sure, you will," Qrow said. "How about we up the ante? Whoever wins this round gets to ask the opponent a question. He or she will answer honestly. Deal?"

"Really?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow. "Any question?"

"Yep," Qrow said with a small op. "Do we have a deal?"

Yang fired up her scroll. "Game on!"

Several minutes later, Qrow beat her…again.

"GRAGH!" Yang threw her scroll again. "I swear that this is illegal."

"All is fair in video games," Qrow chuckled. "For the players of course."

His face became serious.

"So now that I won, I think I get to ask a question."

Yang huffed. "Shoot."

"What happened?"

Yang raised an eyebrow at that. "Care to clarify?"

"Don't play coy with me. Oz told me that you and Ruby had a little funk that lasted over a week. What happened?"

"Oh, that," Yang said. She racked her brain for an answer. "You see, we made some friends on an online game. They're really fun and I think you'll get along with them."

"Really?" He was honestly intrigued. "What kind of friends are they?"

"You might call them insane," Yang replied. "Don't agree with eh rules, do things their way, and very colorful. Plus, one of them drinks."

"Sounds like my kind of people," Qrow said before frowning. "But is the guy who drinks of legal age?"

"Don't worry, he doesn't get as drunk as you," Yang assured. "Even if he is, he would give you a run for your money. His swordsmanship is superb."

"We'll see about that," Qrow challenged. "Care to introduce me to this guy?"

"His name is Zoro and we lost contact with him and the rest," Yang said with a sad smile. "That's part of the reason we were depressed. We thought that we lost them. Though we believe they may be alive, we can't confirm it."

Yang looked down and Qrow can't help but sympathize. Yang and Ruby had lost their mothers at a young age. Summer went out on a mission and never came back. Yang's mother certainly didn't earn the best mother of the year award.

He felt the same way as they did. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure they're alright, Yang," Qrow said. "If these guys are as crazy as you say, they can handle anything."

"You got that right," Yang smirked. "You should meet Luffy. That guy is crazy strong. The festival would be a cakewalk for him."

"Then she grew a challenging grin.

"Speaking of which, you up for another round? Same ante?"

"Sure. I can go for another round," Qrow picked up his scroll but Yang shook her head.

"Uh uh," Yang said as she set her scroll aside. She extended her right arm forward. "Let's settle it in an arm wrestle. Or is the might Uncle Qrow scared because it's not a video game?"

"Oh, it's on now," Qrow chuckled as he gripped Yang's hand.

If he looked closely, he would've spotted the fangs in her grin.

* * *

Ruby sang a cheerful tune as she carried a crate of used scrolls. Ruby never thought it'd be easy to get these many scrolls from the lost and found. Thanks to the money Weiss lent her, she was able to get the parts she needed for her pet project. Along with dust crystals, rather what wasn't by the White Fang or Torchwick.

Ever since she discovered the capabilities of her devil fruit, she explored what she could. After building a few weapons and seeing Franky, she got an idea. She spent her time scavenging for spare parts from wherever she could find. Marine ships, pirate ships, merchants, and so on. Sometimes, she let Franky help her plan her designs.

Now that she's back in Vale, she lost access to the parts she collected, so she had to get parts from around town. She was able to get the crucial component she couldn't find in the Grand Line. That's where the scrolls came in.

She was just passing by her team's dorm room when it banged wide open. Yang strutted out, singing a jaunty tune and clapping her hands. She stopped when she noticed Ruby.

"Oh, hey sis," Yang waved. She noticed her cargo. "Still working on the project, I see."

"Yep," Ruby said with a small op. "It's nearing completion. I just need to get back to the workshop and—"

"Sorry Ruby, but Blake called," Yang said with a sigh. "She and Team JNPR are waiting for us. Weiss is coming back from seeing her sister off."

"Oh yeah," Ruby said. Earlier, they told JNPR that they needed to talk to them about the Grand Line. At this time, now's as good as any.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Ruby said. She looked through the door to see Uncle Qrow sprawled on the ground with a bump on his head. On one hand, he had a flask.

"What happened to him?"

"Made a dirty joke, so I gave him the Nami special," Yang said casually with a tick mark on her head. "Don't worry, he'll be up in a while."

Ruby deadpanned. "You used your devil fruit on him, didn't you?"

"Somebody had to do it," Yang said. "Fortunately, he had his flask. I slipped him some alcohol to make it seem like he drank and saw things. Anyway, let's get going."

"So, what did you talk about?" Ruby asked as they made their way to JNPR's room.

"About how we should never stop growing," Yang said with a smile. She took out a photo and stared at it. On it is Team STRQ, Qrows old team. "And family matters.

Her eyes stared at the raven-haired woman with the katana.

**[~][~]**

** Another chapter is done. Sorry that I haven't updated any of my stories for a long time. I have a lot to deal with in the literal world. But I promise to update as soon as possible.**

**I know people have been asking about RWBY's devil fruit powers, I promise I will reveal them in the next chapter. Speaking of which, JNPR is in for the shock of their lives in the next chapter.**

** Anyway, stay safe out there everyone. Keep the faith that you'll survive.**

** See you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 6: Talk with team JNPR! The Devils of RWBY!**

**[~][~]**

Inside the dorm room of team JNPR, Team RWBY sat on one of the beds in the room. Team JNPR sat on the opposite bed as they heard everything that they told them. They had expressions of disbelief. The four girls couldn't blame them. It was a lot to take in even if they broke it down slowly.

"So, let me get this straight," Jaune began slowly. "You guys were teleported away to another world…"

"We're still debating that," Weiss clarified. She was thinking of the vivre cards reaction back at the fair. "The world part I mean.

"That is filled with pirates who sailed the seas," Nora said, her hyperactivity not present in the discussion.

"Uh-huh," Ruby confirmed.

"Which you became yourselves," Pyrrha said.

"That's right," Blake nodded.

"And you have gone on some crazy adventures," Ren said. "With a crew called the Straw Hat pirates."

"You got it," Yang boasted proudly.

"One of them is a skeleton? An actual walking talking skeleton?"

"Yes."

"You mentioned a cyborg?"

"Yes."

"A reindeer that can become a man?"

"Yes."

"And you've become wanted—"

"Yes."

"You got these things called devil fruit powers which grant you—"

"_Yes._"

"You are wanted by a World Government that—"

"YES!" All four of them shouted, getting fed up with the questions. "For the love of Oum, YES! All of that happened!"

JNPR too another minute to digest everything they had heard. Longer than they would have imagined. It might have been the fact they were shocked at their outburst. Eventually, the silence became unbearable even for Blake. Yang leaned forward and snapped her fingers in front of them.

"Hello? You can close your mouths now," Yang said with a frown. Her ears twitched as she heard the buzzing of wings. "Just to let you know, there's a fly in the room. If you don't close them, you'll end up swallowing it."

They still didn't snap out of it. The fly chose that exact moment to enter Nora's mouth. Nora closed her mouth and gulped.

"THAT IS SO COOL!" Nora exclaimed. Then she gagged. "Blech! I swallowed a fly!"

"She did warn you," Blake pointed out with a deadpan look.

"That happened?" Jaune asked in surprise. "All of it? In one night, you sailed the high seas? How did that happen?"

"We have some theories," Weiss explained. "The most unbelievable of them all would be that the coins in our beds sent us back in time. The only evidence backing that would be the way we were sent back."

The paw prints of Bartholomew Kuma.

Nora spat out what she thought was the fly. "That is still cool though! Did you make people walk the plank? Did you yo ho ho with a bottle of rum?"

"I don't think anyone has ever done that in the Grand Line," Weiss said. "Plus, Yang is the only one who wants to get drunk as Zoro."

"Speak for yourself," Yang said as she focused on Pyrrha. "But we should introduce him to you Pyrrha. He could give you a run for your money besides our captain and Sanji."

"With how high you spoke, I'd be ashamed not to," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Wait," Yang frowned and rubbed her chin in thought. "Sanji probably would never fight you."

"Why not?" Pyrrha asked with a confused look.

"Because you're a girl," Blake said bluntly. She raised a finger before a protest could occur. "Before you ask, Sanji happens to be a gentleman. Despite the fact he goes head over heels for any beautiful lady, he made a vow never to kick a woman. Even in a fight for our lives."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Weiss said. "Whenever that happens, one of us had to step in. Otherwise, he will get himself killed. Like at Enies Lobby."

"That's the headquarters of CP9, right?" Ren asked to which they nodded. "The assassin group backed by the World Government?"

"Yep," Yang growled darkly at the mention of that. "Say what you want, but those World Government bastards are real jerks."

"You got that right," Weiss's voice dripped with venom. "The Celestial Dragons are much worse. It's like taking Atlas to the next level of arrogance!"

JNPR reeled back at the anger that RWBY showed, even Ruby couldn't help but scowl at the actions of the world nobles. They couldn't blame them for that, but they feared that the anger they emit will be enough to attract a Grimm despite the security of Beacon. A change in topic is needed.

"So," Pyrrha said. "You mentioned you have these things called devil fruit powers?"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby cheered up at that. "They're pretty awesome! But it takes away our ability to swim."

"The way I see it's either your ability to swim or get an awesome power," Yang said with mirth. "Considering that we could die at sea anyway, I think that it's worth it!"

"I still say that it's a bad trade," Weiss snarked. "We could easily die if we go overboard!"

"There are many ways to die at sea than drowning," Blake muttered.

"So!" Nora bounced excitedly. "What powers did you get? They've got to be cool if Ruby was able to make her weapon into a launcher!"

Yang chuckled. "We're going to show you tomorrow. I mean, no offense, you guys are our friends but we much prefer to avoid being on the dissection table."

"We're not going to rat you out," Jaune promised. "We would never do that."

"That's not the issue," Weiss insisted. "The reason we are telling you all this is because we plan to…"

"Okay, we understand," Nora said, holding up her arms placating but with hints of taunting. A smug smile crossed her face. "I mean, it's not like any of that happened."

Her team looked at her in surprise. Blake groaned and palmed her forehead. She knew where this is going. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Ruby reach for an alarm clock and a grenade of pink dust that Nora carelessly left out.

"Do you think that kind of taunt is going to work?" Jaune asked.

"It's not a taunt," Nora replied, still smiling. "I mean if they don't have these 'devil fruit powers' that means they're just making this all up."

"Nora," Ren said. "Just because they said no doesn't mean—"

"Hey Nora," Ruby called. JNPR looked to see her holding the alarm clock and pink grenade. "Watch this!"

Red sparks emitted from her the tips of her fingers as the alarm clock broke apart. The parts that made up the clock reformed around the pink grenade, encasing the rearranged wiring. When the sparks died out, a holographic timer appeared over it.

Five seconds.

"Catch," Ruby cheerfully said as she tossed it to Nora. Team JNPR was still in shock from what they had witnessed to register the bomb landing on Nora's lap. They snapped out of it when the bomb beeped. When they did, they begin panicking as the timer counted down. Team RWBY, however, remained calm. Smirking even.

Five…

"Umm…Ruby?" Jaune nervously asked. "How do we turn this off?"

Four…

"Ruby?"

Three…

"Seriously Ruby how do we turn this off?!"

Two…

"I'm sorry!" Nora cried. "I'm sorry that I've doubted you! I won't do it again! Just tell us how to—"

One…

"Take cover!"

Team JNPR tried to bail for cover but it was too late. The container of pink dust left on the bed glowed pink before it exploded into…glitter?

"Huh?" Jaune lowered his arms to see them covered in glitter. He looked at his teammates and found that they are also covered in glitter. Nora had a face full of it. They looked to the bed where the bomb exploded. It is covered in glitter as well.

"What…?" Jaune gasped. "But I thought that…"

"A Rose-Series glitter bomb," Ruby cheerfully replied despite the looks that they were giving her. She pulled out the REAL pink dust grenade from behind her. "I used that instead of this. By the way Nora, you shouldn't leave this lying around, otherwise, I will use it when I'm making a bomb."

"O-okay…" Nora said meekly, taking the grenade and filing a note to store it properly later.

"Are you crazy?" Jaune asked incredulously. He looked at Ruby's teammates, who are still giving them amused looks. "Is she crazy? How is creating a bomb that blows up here okay with you guys?"

"You have your aura," Weiss pointed out then sighed. "Plus, we've already gotten used to it at this point."

"Do you think she would blow us up?" Yang asked with a chuckle. "Ever since she got her devil fruit, it's becoming a laugh for us on the Thousand Sunny. One time, Luffy ate a bomb disguised as a meat stick when he kept stealing Ruby's cookies. Of course, being made of rubber, Ruby added a few explosives into the mix."

JNPR didn't seem to be calmed down by that.

"The point is that she would never harm you guys," Yang continued. "She had plenty of time to explore her devil fruit abilities."

"That was her devil fruit?" Ren asked, looking at Ruby. She nodded energetically.

"Yep," Ruby said with a small pop. "I ate the Tech-Tech fruit. I can assemble and disassemble technology however I please. Though the real power comes from my head."

Ruby pointed at her head for emphasis.

"I have to know the components and workings of the tech before I can assemble," Ruby continued. "Not only that, but I can also think of ways to upgrade them. I swear, it feels like my heads on fire whenever I see the potential improvements and schematics."

"She's not kidding," Yang said. "You should've seen what she did to the second matchlock rifle that she got her hands on. By the time she was done with it, it looked like something straight out of a sci-fi pirate movie! That automatically made her the weaponsmith of the crew."

"Really?" Jaune asked to which Ruby nodded. Then he realized something. "Second? What happened to the first?"

"I kept the first one as part of my weapon collection," Ruby replied cheerfully. "It's hard to come by matchlock rifles these days. They're so ancient and rare."

Jaune nodded at that. He knew her love of weapons. "So…is it okay if you upgrade me and my teams' weapons?"

"Sure," Ruby said with a smile. "I've already upgraded my teams' weapons, so it's fair I do the same for yours. I'll see if I can squeeze in some time while I work on a personal project."

"Personal project?"

"My lips are sealed," Ruby said, pressing a finger to her lips. JNPR looked at the rest of her teammates.

"Don't look at us," Yang said with her hands raised. "Blake and Weiss tried to press me for details, and I didn't break. You'll just have to see when she is finished."

"Alright," Nora groaned. She looked at the others expectantly. "So, what are your devil fruit abilities?"

Yang smirked and stood up. Flashing Blake a look, she approached Weiss. The heiress looked up to see her cracking her knuckles. Ruby and Blake got off the bed and backed away. Her eyes widened when she realized what she's going to do and narrowed them into a glare.

"Yang…don't you dare…"

"Sorry Weiss," Yang said, but her grin said otherwise. "But it is much more fun."

With that, she swung her fist at Weiss. As soon as it collided with her head, a crack is heard instead of flesh. Then, Weiss's head exploded into fragments from the impact. The fragments of glass bounced on the bed and onto the floor. Team JNPR looked at Weiss's headless body in horror.

"Weiss!" Jaune cried out. "Yang, what did you—"

"Wait for it vomit boy," Yang said calmly.

Weiss' headless body suddenly sat upright. The scattered fragments suddenly twitched and pull themselves to where her body is sitting. They traveled up her back and to her neck. The fragments fused with the shattered neck. This continued until Weiss' head is restored and is glaring at Yang.

"Really?" She asked heatedly. "You just had to do that?"

"It's much more fun with their slack-jawed expressions," Yang grinned as she points to team JNPR. Their expressions are just as she had described.

"What was that?" Pyrrha asked. She was still spooked by the fact that Weiss took a blow to the head when her aura should've protected her. Not to mention it shattered.

"Weiss ate what we would call a Logia type devil fruit," Yang explained. "It gives the eater the ability to create, control, and transform their body into any element. It's said to be the most powerful logia type."

"Really?" Nora asked eye's sparkling. She turned to Ruby. "So, what's your type?"

"Paramecia," Ruby replied. "It's a devil fruit type that grants a variety of abilities. Sometimes it gives abilities close to logia but that's it."

"In Weiss's case, she ate the glass-glass fruit," Yang continued. "It allows her body to control and become glass whenever she likes it or not."

"So, she can control and become glass?" Nora asked. "That's kind of weak if you ask me."

As soon as she said those words, she found a blade of glass underneath her neck. Her eyes. Before her teammates can act, they found similar blades at their throats. Their eyes slowly found Weiss, who has a glass glyph hovering in her hand. The same glyph can be found on the other end of the blades. She was giving each of them a deathly glare.

"Still think it's weak?" Weiss asked in a deadly whisper.

"N-no…"

"Good," Weiss snapped her fingers, and the blades shattered into dust particles. JNPR looked at her dumbstruck as the particles flowed to her. Her teammates gave them an apologetic look.

"Trust me when I say that the battle depends on the person," Ruby said. "Despite being a fragile substance, Weiss proved that it can be very deadly. Just ask anybody stupid enough to cross her."

Weiss nodded proudly at her partner's praise.

"Okay," Nora said a little timid which is unlike her. "So, when did you eat your devil fruit? Did you accidentally eat it or something?"

Weiss' proud look vanished the moment her teammates started snickering.

* * *

_In the cold dining room of Drum Castle, Weiss sat at a table in the dining room. Growing up in Atlas and having an active aura allowed her to endure the cold. The rest of her crewmates are stuck with coats. She was eating a fruit from a basket, an apple by the looks of it. She didn't seem to care about how long it's been out there. Her face is stained with tears after the story she heard about Hiriluk and Chopper._

_ "I didn't exactly give you permission to eat my fruit."_

_ Weiss looked up to see a slender yet aged woman standing at the other side of the table. Despite the cold, she is dressed in a purple blazer over a shirt that bare her midriff and purple low-riding pants. She wore a pair of sunglasses and a pair of regular glasses on her forehead. In her hand, she held a bottle of booze._

_ "I don't care," Weiss snapped and went back to eating her fruit. "I just…after hearing that story…"_

_ "No matter how much the body cries, tears won't bring back anything," Dr. Kureha said. "All it gets is an exhausted body."_

_ "I know that! But that doesn't mean I can't cry for the people who suffered because of that bastard Wapol!" Weiss shouted. She was talking about the King who made his people beg for their lives when they needed medical attention the most. Then when the kingdom needed the royal family the most, he left like a coward. "People who became status just for their benefit are the worse kind of people! My father is one of them and so are the elites of my homeland! Even now, I HATE THEM ALL!"_

_ With that said, she lowered her voice and went back to finishing her apple. She gagged from the terrible taste of it. Kureha may be a doctor, but she must be terrible to leave this fruit lying around._

_ "Hmmm…" Kureha lifted her sunglasses to reveal her eyes. "You saying that you're some kind of noble?"_

_ "Heiress actually," Weiss clarified as she rubs her stomach. "I am heiress to an important company. One that is run by a man just like Wapol."_

_ "Figures," Kureha said in a way that irked Weiss. "Most people would wear white to make themselves feel superior to anyone else. That includes nobles like Wapol."_

_ "I'm nothing like him…" Weiss declared. "Nor will I ever be…"_

_ "Good," Kureha nods with a smile. "It's people like you that give this world hope."_

_ "How so…?"_

_ "The immune system keeps a record of every germ it has defeated so it can recognize and destroy," Kureha explained. "Keep a record of the most atrocious people in history and the world will avoid the same mistakes as best they can. You remember what that bastard has done and strive to become a better woman than him. The same goes for this father of yours."_

_ Kureha let that sink in. Weiss stared at the doctor with her tear stains nearly faded._

_ "Plus, if he's anything like your father, he's a bloody coward that would flee the moment he looks adversity in the eye."_

_ "You're probably right about that," Weiss nodded with a small smile. "When things don't go his way, he takes it out on all of us."_

_ "Indeed," Kureha nodded. "I got to go check on my patients now. They're probably chasing Chopper again."_

_ Weiss softly chuckled at that. Her idiot captain and Sanji have been trying to catch the reindeer so that they can eat him a while back. But after seeing what he can do, they want to recruit him instead._

_ "By the way," Kureha called as she walked out of the dining hall. "I hope you weren't planning to swim anytime soon because you ate a devil fruit."_

_ Weiss nodded. She got up and prepared to walk away…_

_ …_

_ …_

_ …_

_ "Wait…WHAT?!"_

* * *

Weiss felt steam coming out of her ears.

"NO!" She shrieked. Her teammates doubled over in laughter, hands clutching at their bellies. Weiss angrily turned to her partner. "You accidentally ate a devil fruit too!"

"But yours was much more hilarious!" Ruby gasped in between breaths. Then, several blades of glass appeared over them that made them stop laughing. Weiss stared at them with a demonic expression.

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Yang said as they held their hands up in surrender. With a huff, she retracted the glass blades and sat back down. JNPR sweatdropped at this new side of Weiss. They jumped when she gave a look that dared them to laugh, specifically at Nora.

"Anyway," Pyrrha said, trying to drive that topic away with the next person. She looked a Blake. "How did you get your powers?"

"Yang and I found ours in a black market at Alabasta," Blake said. "The owner charged a ridiculous price for it."

"After the store got destroyed by means not related to us," Yang said with an honest look. "We took them and ate them immediately."

"Seriously?" Jaune asked with an eyebrow raised.

"We're pirates," Yang defended. "We take what we want by force. Plus, it was destroyed by the marines. Not to mention that there is an unspoken rule about the first person to spot a devil fruit gets to eat it."

"Wait…" Jaune spoke slowly. "You two ate it immediately?"

"Yup."

"What about the ability to swim?"

"I didn't like getting wet anyway," Blake said. "Plus, we didn't have our weapons or dust. We were outclassed with the battles we've fought."

"I'd like to get an awesome power," Yang said. "But yeah, with. People like Crocodile and Moria, we needed every advantage we could get. The Grand Line is a rough place and we had to learn fast to survive."

"So, what are your devil fruit powers?" Nora asked, getting back to the subject at hand. Everyone looks at Blake for her to go, and she sighed.

"I ate the Read-Read fruit," Blake said. Everyone looked at her, expecting her to showcase her ability. However, she just sat there. "Before you ask, it's a paramecia type."

"Which does…?" Nora asked. She flinched when Blake gave her a dark look.

"Give me a book and you'll find out," Blake said with a tone matching her look. Team JNPR is once again sweating like crazy at Blakes flip in personality. First Ruby, then Weiss, and now Blake? What's Yang going to do next? Turn into a beast?

"Let's just say that Blake caused an incident that we are not eager to repeat," Ruby said with a look of panic. Blake snorted at that, but Weiss glared at her. "Hopefully, she has a lot of control of it at this point."

"Don't worry," Blake said as she lightened up. "I have control over my abilities."

"Okay," Jaune sighed.

**"Or do I?"**

JNPR tensed up as Blake's ominous look returned. Then she chuckled and let the tension die down.

"I'm just messing with you," Blake said, then it returned. **"Or maybe not."**

JNPR tensed up again.

"L-let's skip the demonstration," Jaune said, unnerved by Blake.

"Y-yeah…" Nora nodded. They turned to the last person yet to demonstrate their abilities—Yang. "So, what is your ability?"

"I'm glad you asked," Yang smiled as she stood up. "My ability allows me to—"

"Thank you! No more questions!" Nora cried out as she waved her hands. "Please don't go nuts on us!"

"Yeah," Pyrrha agreed. "I think we've seen enough. It's getting late after all."

Yang looked disappointed that she couldn't showcase her abilities. But she respected their wishes and sat back down with a huff. Her teammates seemed to be looking at the bed they're sitting on in relief.

"Yeah, you're right," Yang said finally. "Besides, we didn't tell you guys all of this for kicks."

Ruby nodded. "We're telling you this because we plan on going back to Sabaody Archipelago after the Vytal Festival. During our semester break, we plan on looking for our crewmates."

"But how?" Jaune asked. "From what you told us it sounded like you came from another world."

Weiss pulled out a baggie with a small piece of paper inside. She took it out and held it with her palm to show everyone.

"This is a vivre card," She explained. "I don't know how this works, but this piece of paper acts as a compass to the person written on the paper. This paper is torn from a ship coating mechanic known as Rayleigh Silver. Watch…"

Team JNPR looked at the paper. To their amazement, the paper started inching towards the direction of their window.

"That's amazing," Pyrrha said with her eyes wide. "And you're going to use this to reunite with your crew?"

"Everyone of us has been given this," Blake said as she held out hers. "We planned to reunite with the others in three days after we ticked off the Celestial Dragons. Now that we got sent back here, it complicates things. We'll need to secure a ship and supplies."

"Sounds like a plan," Jaune said. "So, when do we start?"

"There is no we Jaune," Ruby replied, much to their surprise. "We're going at this alone."

"What?!" Nora cried out. "You can't be serious! I have a pirate costume and everything!"

"We are Nora," Weiss said sternly. "We told you this so you would understand the trials and tribulations we had to go through in the Grand Line. We thought we could get by on just our aura, but we learned it didn't work out well the hard way. Even Pyrrha will have a difficult time there. We've barely survived by the skin of our teeth! We don't want to get you all killed when we return."

"So then help us get used to it," Jaune said suddenly.

"What?"

"You could train us so that we don't die in the Grand Line. I mean, you needed the training to get the hang of your Devil Fruit, didn't you?"

"Training on the fly doesn't make us teachers Jaune," Blake argued. "Even if we could, we're wanted by the World Government. That means that the entire world is out to get us!"

"If you guys are crazy enough to take on the entire world, so can we," Nora argued back.

"You guys have a clean slate here," Ruby argued as well. "The last thing we need is to drag you guys down with us!"

"You already did that with the Breach," Jaune retorted.

What was once a peaceful conversation turned into a full-scale argument. One side against team JNPR going with them the other for it. Even Ren seemed to be angry for the first time. Pyrrha and Yang watched their respective teams argue. The champion looked torn as her friends argued. Yang was thinking for a while before her eyes widened in realization. Taking a deep breath, she shouted.

"ENOUGH!" Yang roared. The sound would've been heard from the other side of the academy. The argument had died down. "Since we can't agree, there's only one way to settle this."

"What?"

"Last I checked the training arena is empty at this time of night," Yang continued. Her teammates looked at her when they realized what she's planning. "So, what do you say Jaune? Team JNPR vs Team RWBY. If we win, you guys have to stay here. If we lose, you get to come with us."

Pyrrha seemed to be the only one on JNPR to have noticed Yang's predatory grin. Before she could protest, her leader had already spoken with a hardened gaze.

"We accept."

"Jaune!"

"Then we fight," Yang declared. She stood up and gestured to the door. "Care to show us to the arena?"

The leader of Team JNPR nodded and walked out the door with Ren and Nora following. Pyrrha looked back and forth at them in hesitation before following. Yang looked at her team before nodding her head at the door.

"If it will discourage themselves from getting killed," Weiss groaned as she got up and walked out the door. Ruby made to follow her when she realized that Blake hadn't moved from her spot.

"You are coming?"

"I will just give me a second."

"Okay."

Ruby exited the room to follow the rest of her friends. Yang looked at her for a moment before telling her to not be late. Blake barely heard her as she was deep in thought. From what Yang had planned, it was a good way to discourage them from coming after them. But somehow, it felt like they are going at it all wrong. If they wanted to show them the dangers of the Grand Line…

Blake's amber eyes widened as an idea formed in her head. She took out her scroll and enlarged it. She selected an app with a book and opened it to a blank sheet. The cat faunus began to write starting with two words.

Bartholomew Kuma.

**[~][~]**

** That's all for this chapter. Team JNPR learns that RWBY had gone to the Grand Line and is leaving to look for their crewmates. I know that it's short, but I have to set a word count, or my head will fry. Please understand.**

** To make it up to you all, the next chapter will feature a fight between RWBY and JNPR as they tried to show them that they won't last long in the Grand Line with just heart and aura. But as we can see, Blakes planning something that involves her devil fruit and Bartholomew Kuma.**

** Stay safe and keep the faith that we will survive the coronavirus.**

** Thank you all for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 7: RWBY vs JNPR! The Dangers of the Grand Line!**

**[~][~]**

Pyrrha had mixed feelings about this.

After RWBY had revealed they went to another world, she was filled with disbelief until they showed them their devil fruit powers. The adventures they went on the people they fought with and against strong people. People she had no doubt are stronger than her or any huntsman from what they told her team. She had no doubt that team RWBY had gotten stronger as well which made her excited for a challenge.

Which is what brought this situation.

After Jaune accepted Yang's challenge, Team RWBY minus Blake, lead JNPR to the arena. At this time of night, nobody should be awake to hear the fighting. Hopefully that includes a Glynda Goodwitch. Quiet as mice, JNPR got their respective weapons out of their rocket-propelled lockers and walked onto the arena grounds. Team RWBY took one side of the arena while team JNPR took the other. For some reason, there is a big bag sitting behind team RWBY and they didn't have their weapons.

"What's in the bag?" Jaune asked.

"A lot of stuff I made when we snapped out of our funk," Ruby explained. "Don't worry, I'm not going to use any of the contents in the duel. It'll be handy when the worst-case scenario happens."

"Worst case scenario?"

"Glynda Goodwitch," Weiss clarified with a shudder. "You know how she gets when we break the rules. Especially when all of us are doing a midnight fighting session. Like right now."

She emphasized the last part.

"Speaking of which, where's Blake?" Nora asked. As if speaking her name made her appear, Blake landed into the arena and joined her team.

"Sorry," Blake said. "I had to make some preparations before we start."

"Preparations?" Pyrrha asked with a raised eyebrow. "What were you doing? Also, I noticed that none of you have your weapons."

"Let's just say it has something to do with my devil fruit powers," Blake said ominously. JNPR tensed up at the dark look on Blake's face. A few seconds later it returned to normal. "But that remains if you get to see them."

"Is she going to do that everytime?" Nora whispered to Ren.

"It may have something to do with the incident," Ren whispered back.

"Anyway. We don't have our weapons with us because it would be overkill when we beat you guys."

"What makes you say that?" Jaune asked.

"One of the lessons we learned the hard way was to not rely on your weapon," Ruby said with a cringe. "Even though I'm still happy to be reunited with my baby…"

"What she means is that all we need are our wits and skills," Yang said with a confident smirk. "Which is enough for me to beat all of you."

"Wait," Pyrrha held up a hand to pause everything. Just to confirm what she had just heard. "You're fighting all four of us?"

"Yep," Yang said bluntly.

"All by yourself?"

"Uh huh."

"I thought this was a team battle?" Jaune asked.

"I said Team RWBY will fight Team JNPR," Yang corrected. "I didn't say that all of us will be fighting at once. It's going to be you all versus me."

"That's a little unfair," Jaune pointed out. Yang just gave him a grin.

"Rule number one Vomit boy," Yang said with a smirk. "There are no rules when it comes to pirates."

For some reason, Pyrrha felt a shiver when seeing that smirk. If anything, it looked like a predator's smile. She could have sworn that she saw some fangs. Then there were her eyes. For a moment, they…

"In that case, we'll fight one on one as well," Jaune said, interrupting her thoughts. "I pick Pyrrha."

Pyrrha whipped her head at her leader. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry Pyrrha," Jaune apologized. "If you don't want to, I could ask Nora to go instead."

"No, it's alright Jaune," Pyrrha said.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Seriously Vomit boy? Throwing Pyrrha out to the wolves?"

"My team isn't going to gang up on you," Jaune said. "It's only fair that we fight one on one."

"Your fault when she loses," Yang said with a shrug before walking onto the arena.

"She won't!" Nora cried out. "She isn't going to lose! Just wait till she mops the floor with you!"

Behind Yang, the rest of her team walked backwards until they hit the wall. Ruby chose to stand next to her big bag of mystery stuff. Pyrrha's team did likewise with her stepping onto the arena. Weiss took the liberty of playing referee.

"The rules are simple," Weiss announced. "When your aura hits zero, the match is over. If you happen to be out of bounds, the match is over. Does everybody understand?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Your aura will be monitored on the board," Weiss declared. "Ruby?"

"Already on it!" Ruby said as she fiddled with her scroll. The inactive arena board lit up and displayed the aura levels of RWBY and JNPR.

"Positions!"

Pyrrha shifted into a battle stance. Akouo held forward and Milo in sword form. Yang just cracked her knuckles and raised her fists.

"Three! Two! One! Begin!"

As soon as Weiss said begin, Yang made the first move.

"Burst!"

In a moment, Yang vanished right before her eyes. Then, she felt something smash into her back. The force propelled her forward and she landed right where Yang disappeared. Gasping for breath, she turned her head to see Yang standing right where she was. Her teammates are looking at her with shock.

"In the blink of an eye, the invincible girl's aura is halfway gone!" Yang announced with a grin. On the board, Pyrrha's aura is nearing the orange.

"What was that?!" Jaune asked.

"It was like she disappeared!" Nora shared in his confusion.

"You remember our encounter with CP9, right?" Yang asked. "They had this thing called the Six Powers. Made them superhuman and all that. They were so cool that we decided to make our own variation."

"If you ask me," Weiss said. "They shouldn't announce how they perform the techniques if they don't want people to copy them."

"Like Burst," Yang said as Pyrrha got up. "My leg strength is explosive enough to make me faster than your eyes can blink. Which is how I got behind you."

"That explains it," Pyrrha said. But she was grinning. "Allow me to return the favor!"

She charged at Yang. Milo is raised above for a downward slash. Yang made no move to dodge.

"Ironclad!"

Pyrrha felt Milo like it scratched against an iron wall. From where she struck, a yellow field appeared. Eyes widening in surprise, she leaped backward as she surveyed Yang. The blonde didn't seem fazed by the blow. In fact, she looked smug. Frowning, she struck again, meeting the same result. On the board, Yang's aura is barely going down.

"We developed this after seeing Iron Body," Yang said as Pyrrha continued her slashing. "Ruby found out that if we condense our aura, we can cloak ourselves with a near impenetrable field of aura. Though we can't do much else when we are like this. Best part is that we don't lose much aura."

"An ironclad defense huh," Pyrrha said. "In that case…"

Pyrrha bashed her shield against Yang, empowered by her semblance. This time, not only did she managed to make her move a foot, she managed to take down a portion of her aura. But Yang is still in the green.

"Not bad," Yang said despite Pyrrha getting an upper hand. "Very few attacks can bypass the Ironclad. But as much as I would love getting hit, I prefer not to so…"

When Pyrrha attempted another shield bash, Yang jumped into the air. Pyrrha's body turned to follow Yang as she is about to land in front of her. But to her surprise, right before she landed, she _kicked off the air_! She flew backwards and before Pyrrha could react, Yang grabbed Pyrrha by the head and proceeded to slam the back of it to the ground. This took a lot of her aura in the process. As she recovered from the blow, Pyrrha looked up to see Yang standing above her.

"We're working on a name for that still," Yang said. "CP9 called it the Moon Walk. Not to be confused with the dance move. We found it convenient to use considering that we are devil fruit users. Though we still need to work on the move itself."

"We can only use it up to three times," Blake added. "After that, we hope that it's not over the sea."

"Any way, I feel like it's time I wrap this up," Yang said as she reared her hand back.

Eyes wide, Pyrrha pushed herself off the floor just as Yang's fist shatters the ground. Getting her second wind, Pyrrha threw Akuou to the side and charged forward with Milo raised. Yang raised her arms to block, only for Pyrrha to use her semblance to direct Akouo to hit Yang in the back. Quickly recalling her shield, Pyrrha spun to bash into her side. Grunting, Yang clawed her fingers and brought it down at Pyrrha.

"Squall Slash!"

Pyrrha raised Akouo to block her clawed fingers. However, she wasn't prepared for the gust of wind that followed. She found herself blown backwards. Her teammates moved out of the way as she hit the wall, her aura flickering as it broke from the impact. On the wall, five blades of wind slashed the wall, making five clean groves. Groaning, Pyrrha shook her head and scanned the damaged Yang's attack did. She felt her eyes widen when she saw three of them on her shield. Cut clean like the wall.

"I held back because it was dangerous," Yang called out. "But if you want, I can slice your shield to pieces."

"What?!" Jaune cried out at what Yang just said. "You can do that with a single swipe of your hand?"

"Technically it's the sharp gust of wind that followed Yang's fingers," Weiss clarified. "It's our variation of the Tempest Kick. Like it implies, we can utilize the air to slice through objects. From what we understand, you have to have the strength and speed to use it."

"Even aura," Yang said with a wince. "Trust me, we learned that the hard way that aura can't protect you from everything."

Yang clapped her hands and turned around. She began walking away. "With that said, I beat the unbeatable Pyrrha. Team RWBY for the win!"

"Not quite," Jaune called out. Yang stopped walking and turned to see the rest of JNPR moving onto the arena. Yang raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you said it was a one on one fight?"

"This is a team battle remember?" Jaune said as he helped Pyrrha up. "It's not over until we are all taken down."

"That's right!" Nora nodded as she gripped Magnhild. Pyrrha picked up Akouo despite its damaged state and held it high.

Yang studied them for a moment before shrugging. "If you insist. I'll take you all on at once."

"Are you sure you don't want to help her?" Ren asked that to Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. They still haven't moved from their spot. Ruby gave a shake of her head.

"Nope," She said with a small pop. "Yang may be the weakest of us, but she gave the Marines hell back on Enies Lobby."

"Hey!" Yang protested as she whips around to face her sister. She gave her a glare. "Just because my bounty is lower than you three doesn't mean I'm the weakest!"

"Bounty?"

"We'll talk about that later," Yang snapped as she turns back to face JNPR. "For now, let's just fight!"

"Wait!" Ruby called out. She dug around her bag and pulled out a small box. With a burst of her semblance, she appeared in front of Pyrrha. Ruby opened the box and pulled out a small gun. Ruby noticed the look on confusion on Pyrrha's face.

"Don't worry," Ruby assured. "This isn't meant for combat."

Ruby aimed the device at Pyrrha and pulled the trigger. From the end of the barrel, a stream of golden particles flowed out and onto Pyrrha. To Pyrrha's surprise, she saw her aura being repaired. The aura bar on the screen showed it becoming green.

"See?" Ruby asked. She tapped the gun with pride. "I developed this when we came back. I'm still working on Aura regenerating tech at the moment, but this can help repair our aura during battle."

With a burst of petals, Ruby sped back to her teammates. She called out, "The floor is yours sis!"

"Right on it," Yang called back. She turned back to JNPR. "Shall we?"

"Ren, you distract her," Jaune whispered to his friend. "Me and Pyrrha will engaged her in close combat."

"Why?"

"Because—" Jaune whispered his plan to his teammates. Unbeknownst to them, Yang's ears are twitching as they plotted. She smirked.

"This I got to see," She whispered. Then she called out to them. "You guys ready yet?"

Jaune gave a determined nod. "We are."

"Weiss?"

"You got it," Weiss called out. She brought her hand up. "Three! Two! One! Begin!"

Team JNPR charged at Yang. Ren opened fire with Stormflower, forcing Yang to raise her arms to protect her face. This gave Jaune and Pyrrha enough time to get and close and attack her. Yang had to drop her defense to defend against them. She parried, blocked, and returned the favor to the two shield fighters. That however left her open to the bullets from Ren, which slowly whittled her aura. However, she can't get to him because Jaune and Pyrrha are blocking. Another problem is that when she punched Pyrrha away from herself, Jaune took her place. If she did likewise, then Pyrrha took his place.

"Ironclad!" Yang called out as her yellow aura condensed.

"Now!" Jaune called, and together, he and Pyrrha bashed their shields against her. Yang skidded a few feet away from them. The attack also took out a portion of her aura.

"Not bad…" Yang grunted.

"Nora now!"

Yang's eyes widened as she finally spotted Nora. With a wicked grin, Nora launched grenade after grenade into the air. Looking up, she saw a volley of them heading her way. Her aura is nearing the low after the whittling that Ren, Pyrrha, and Jaune gave her. That left her with one option.

"Squall Slash!" Yang called as she swiped her clawed fingers. That sent five air blades towards the grenades. Upon hitting them, they detonated in midair, causing a pink smoke to cover her position. Yang cursed the fact that aura doesn't protect them from the effects of smoke. She coughed and covered her mouth right when a pink blur zipped in front of her.

Yang's eyes widened when she saw the grinning Nora in front of her. She is sparking with pink electricity, no doubt from a vial of lightning dust she kept somewhere on her person. Magnhild is raised over her shoulder.

"Looks like we win!" Nora declared as she brought the hammer down.

But Yang gave a grin of her own. A predatory grin.

"Does it?"

Next moment, Nora is flying out of the smoke and past her team. She crashed into the wall, making a crater.

"Nora!" Jaune shouted. Up on the board, her aura is in the orange. "What happened?"

"Let's just say that she bit off more than she can chew."

They turned to the smoke. JNPR's eyes widened when they saw what emerged from the smoke. What they saw can only be described as a mass of yellow fur. It stood on its hind legs that is as muscular as its arms. What caught their attention was the fact that it's wearing the same clothes as Yang.

"I got to admit," The Were-Bear spoke as it rubbed the spot where Nora hit her. "I didn't think that you would be able to force me into my man beast form. But kudos to you guys!"

"Yang?" Pyrrha asked. She was much taller than she was. "Is that you? What—"

"Bear Bear Fruit, Model: Grizzly," Yang answered with a smile. "My Zoan type devil fruit power. Like the name implies, I can take the form of a bear when I feel like it. I can even take this man beast form."

"That's your devil fruit?" Nora asked as she struggled to get up. "I can see why you didn't want to transform. You would've busted down our room with just your size!"

"Hey, you didn't want me to transform remember!" Yang shouted. "Now, where were we? Oh yeah…burst!"

In two seconds, Yang took down Jaune and Pyrrha. It took one second for her to disappear again. The other second is used for her muscular arms to grab Pyrrha and Jaunes heads and slam them into the ground. The impact made their aura break.

"Two down!" Yang called. Her predator eyes found Ren and Nora. "Two to go! Burst!"

She vanished and grabbed Ren by the leg before he could move. Then, using him as a bat, she swung him into Nora. The strength of the impact is enough to break their aura at the same time.

"Round two is over," Yang cheered as she reverted back into her human form. Clapping her hands again, she turned to Ruby. "Once I again I win! Hey sis! You might want to bring out the Aura-Recharge Device again. We

"Wait…" Jaune called out weakly. Yang turned in surprise to see him struggling to get up. He is using his sword to help him up. "One more round…"

"You can't be serious!" Yang cried out with her hands spread. "Your team got your butts handed to you twice already! You can't fight any further with the shape you are in!"

"Yes, we can," Nora retorted as she stood up as well. "Ruby can recharge our aura and we can fight again! This battles not over!"

"I can respect you guys not giving up, but you have to know when to quit. You can't beat me. I already demonstrated how easily I can mop the floor with you guys. And I was holding back!"

"If you can do it, so can we! You're not leaving without us!"

"Yang," Blake called out calmly. "Let's give them one more round."

"What?" Yang turned to her partner like she just asked her to make a deal with the devil.

"This time, I will fight," Blake said as she walked onto the arena. "Ruby, can you recharge their aura while I talk with Yang?"

"Sure?" Ruby said, a bit skeptical at what Blake has in mind. While she proceeded to recharge their aura, Blake approached Yang. Before she could argue, Blake silenced her with a finger.

"Don't worry, I have a plan," Blake said, tapping her scroll for emphasis. Yang was puzzled for a moment. Then she realized what Blake is about to do.

"I swear on everything that is holy Blake," Yang hissed with a hint of fear of the _incident_. "If it's another horror novel—"

"You know full well that the crew banned me from getting those anymore," Blake whispered back. The corner of her eye twitched at how she can no longer get the genre of books. "Besides, we've been going about this all wrong. We want them to know how dangerous the Grand Line is right?"

Yang's eyes widened in realization. "You have someone in mind?"

"Somebody we are familiar with," Blake answered ominously. Yang really hated when the cat Faunus became like that.

Yang sighed. "Just make sure they don't die."

"I'll end it before that occurs," Blake assured her. "Now go."

Yang ran off to join Ruby as she zipped back to her side. Blake stood before the recharged JNPR with nothing but scroll in hand. She stood a little more distance away from them. Team JNPR looked tired from the previous fights, more specifically Pyrrha, but they were determined.

Time for Blake to show them the Grand Line.

"So, what are you going to do?" Nora asked, jerking her head to her scroll. "Summon your weapon?"

"Why summon my weapon when your opponent isn't me?" Blake asked ominously as she expanded her scroll. She selected a document file and opened it.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked. Only to flinch when Blake gave JNPR the dark look again.

"You wanted to come with us to the Grand Line, right?" She asked. "Well why don't you experience it for yourself?"

Looking at her scroll, she spoke out the words typed upon it. "From out of smoke appeared one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea…"

In front of her, something is happening. In front of Blake, smoke appeared from out of nowhere. The smoke was so thick that JNPR couldn't see Blake.

"The one who is known throughout the world as the tyrant…"

From within the smoke, something is emerging. They felt the earth shake with footsteps. Out of the smoke came the biggest man that JNPR had ever seen. From Pyrrha's estimate, he had to be about six-hundred and eighty-nine centimeters tall. Like Yang, his clothes are similar to that of a bear. His eyes appeared to be clear-mirrored lenses. He wore a hat with a pair of rounded ears, gray pants covered in brown spots, and a jacket with a large white design of a target crosshair. In a gloved hand, he carried a bible.

"Bartholomew Kuma."

Team JNPR were taken aback by what Blake had said.

"Wait, Bartholomew Kuma?" Jaune cried out. "The same one who sent you flying from Sabaody archipelago? The one with—"

"This is a direct order from the World Government," A new voice spoke out. It sounded as if it's coming from a speaker "Annihilate Team JNPR and anyone who supports the Straw Hats."

"A simple task," Kuma said in a monotone of voice. He began to remove his gloves.

"Wait, did he say annihilate?" Nora asked fearfully. "Blake, you're not seriously going to kill us. Right?"

Blake didn't answer from the smoke. Then, Kuma suddenly vanished. For a moment, they wondered where the big man went. Then, their vision darkened from a shadow. They whipped around to see the warlord standing behind him. His emotionless eyes are focused on Pyrrha.

"Invincible Pyrrha Nikos," Kuma spoke calmly to Pyrrha. "Shall I begin the annihilation with you?"

Team JNPR readied their weapons, but they were trembling. Even Pyrrha is looking fearful. They heard from team RWBY about how Bartholomew Kuma nearly killed them once and separated them. They didn't evaluate much as they wanted to fill JNPR in about their adventures.

"Your team as garnered quite the reputation," Kuma spoke out, interrupting their thoughts. "For associating with scum that is. It seems that what Team RWBY has told about you is true though. It is clear that your team is packed with skillful huntsmen."

"Oh, you are making me blush," Nora gushed. Jaune is amazed on how Nora can take a compliment when they are feeling terrified of the man.

"Those witches have left enough destruction in their wake," Kuma continued. "It would be more troublesome if four more of them appeared. Your reputation, however, isn't reserved for Nikos. You each share your own burden of responsibility."

Pyrrha didn't wait for another moment. With a wordless yell, she charged at the Warlord.

"Pyrrha, wait!" Jaune called out.

Pyrrha swiped Milo at Kuma's legs, hoping to strike a weak point and cripple him. Before her blade could touch him, he vanished again. Just like Yang in the last two fights. Pyrrha had a feeling she knew where he is now. She turned and lo and behold, the Warlord is standing over her. One hand is raised, the palm aimed at her. A humming sound reached her ears, and it was coming from the hand. Her instincts screamed at her to dodged, to which she listened.

She rolled to the side as the ground exploded from where she was. Her eyes are wide as dinner plates when she saw a paw shaped indention from where Kuma was aiming a smoking palm towards. Despite his size, he's faster than she thought.

This is backed by the fact that he threw his palm at her again. This time, a white projectile shaped like a paw streaked towards her. She ducked down as she felt it pass over her and slam into the wall behind her. A large paw is imprinted where it struck.

It was there that she was something on his smoking hands. On his palm is something pink. Something kind of like…

"Are those…paw pads…?"

"Get away from her!" Nora cried out. She jumped up and swung her hammer at Kuma's back. In a split second, Kuma is suddenly facing her. Magnhild slammed into the paw pads with a squish sound. Then, with Nora still gripping her hammer, she was sent back skidding along the ground.

"Nora!" Ren cried out as he rushed over to her. He opened fired on the Warlord, but he held up a palm to the barrage of bullets. They changed course back towards the one that shot them. Jaune interposed between them just in time. He held his shield to block the bullets.

"Just what is this guy?" Jaune huffed.

Pyrrha stood up shakily.

"I think I know what his power is," Pyrrha called out. Her teammates turned to her. "He can repel anything with his palms. That's why are attacks aren't doing anything."

"Correct," Kuma said as he held up his palms. "I ate the paw paw fruit. I became a paw-palmed human."

Everyone sweat dropped at this.

"A paw-palmed human?" Jaune asked incredulously.

"What kind of devil fruit is that?" Nora asked. "If this guy's power is kitten paws then what are we worried—"

Nora is cut off as a white paw projectile slammed into her. Nora coughed up blood as she fell on her back. On her torso is a smoking mark of a paw.

"Nora!" Jaune cried out as he rushed over to his friend. Pyrrha rushed over as well to check on her. Ren looked distressed at seeing his childhood friend like this.

"I'm disappointed Nora Valkryie," Kuma said in his monotone. "If that is the extent of your strength the you should keep your mouth shut."

"Is she breathing?" Jaune asked Pyrrha. She nodded after checking.

"Blake, this is going to far!" Ren called out. "Blake?!"

He got no answer still.

"How did that attack get past her aura?" Jaune asked, looking at the paw mark.

"This is a theory," Pyrrha said. "But what if he's deflecting air pressure. A normal physical attack wouldn't get past her aura."

"I call it the pad cannon," Kuma said. "I simply deflect air pressure at light speed, and it creates a shockwave that can pierce through anything."

"That would make aura useless then," Jaune said. "Will Nora be alright?"

"Her aura is healing her," Pyrrha said. "I doubt Blake would want to kill us."

They are interrupted by the sound of smashing ground. They turned to see Kuma doing a foot stomp similar to that of a sumo wrestler in a video game.

"I don't believe in mercy," Kuma spoke in a low voice. The still standing members of JNPR had the same feeling.

"Evasive action!"

"NOW FEEL MY THRUST PAD CANNON!"

With that shout, Kuma begin thrusting his arms forward and back. Each thrust sent out a paw projectile at them. Jaune didn't have time to count as a volley of them is headed his team's way. It was pure luck that Jaune managed to evade them. He had close misses, but his adrenaline is in full throttle. He knew that one hit by one of those and he's down.

His two teammates have no trouble dodging the projectiles. Ren's agility enabled him to evade the projectiles with ease if barely. Pyrrha attempted to deflect some of the projectiles by using her shield with her semblance. But Jaune could tell that she won't be able to keep it up. He knew that it was her semblance that allowed her to get far.

"Ren!" Jaune called as he held up his shield in a vain attempt to block a paw projectile. "See if you can get close and get a hit on his head! That may stop his barrage!"

Ren said nothing but nodded in acknowledgement. He dodged and weaved in between the barrage of paws. Kuma made no attempt to move as Ren approached him. With a great push from his legs, Ren leaped into the air and spun. He stuck out his leg and heel drop kicked Kuma directly on the jaw.

The barrage stopped. It was as if Kuma is registering the face that Ren kicked him. For a moment, Jaune thought they found a weakness.

"Ren! See if you can—"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off when he heard Ren cry out in pain. He fell to the ground clutching the leg he used to kick Kuma.

"I take it you're Lie Ren?" Kuma said as he rubbed his jaw. "I expected more from you."

"You're kidding me," Jaune breathed in horror. "He got a kick to the face and he didn't even flinch?"

"Ren! Are you alright?" Pyrrha called.

"No," Ren called back. "It felt like I kicked a steel wall!"

"Get yourself to safety!" Jaune ordered as he raised his shield and sword. "Pyrrha, give me some covering fire! See if you can aim for his eyes! I'll distract him!"

He charged at Kuma while Pyrrha switched Milo to rifle mode. She took aim and open fired upon the face of the warlord. Kuma simply raised one of his hands and repelled the shots towards Jaune. The bullets pinged against his shield as he approached Kuma's legs.

"The leader of team JNPR steps up to the plate," Kuma said without care. "A title you clearly don't deserve if your prowess isn't as good as your mind."

As he said that, he swung his palm against Jaune's shield. The shockwave traveled through the shield and through his aura. He coughed back as he was knocked backwards.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha screamed as she used her semblance to bring his body to her. His chest plate now had a paw print dented on it. Fortunately, he had a massive amount of aura for him to heal. Like Nora, he will be okay given enough time.

Booming footsteps drew her attention upward. She brought Akouo and Milo to her with her semblance. She glared up at the warlord, despite the feeling of hopelessness over her. For a moment, nobody made a move.

"I knew from the start that killing a group of weaklings like you will bring me no joy," Kuma finally said. "Not to mention it's not a fair fight. But orders are orders, even though I don't fully agree with them."

He brought his hands up, palms facing the sky. Next thing she heard is a popping noise from his palms. This continued for several moments before Pyrrha could see a massive bubble in the shape of a paw. It keeps getting smaller. What was he going to—

The revelation of what he's going to do hit her like a stampeding goliath.

"What's he doing?" Jaune asked as he struggled to lift his head up.

"He's using his powers to deflect a giant air mass," Pyrrha said with horror. "But he's compressing it into a ball. The moment it gets released…

"It will send out a massive shockwave," Jaune said, mirroring his partners horror. He didn't see it, but he can tell Ren and Nora are horrified as well. "You mean he's going to blow us all up?!"

The mass of air got smaller, and smaller until Kuma held between his palms a shining ball of light which they knew was all the air he gathered. For a moment, they wondered when they are going to release it.

"I've thought it over and I have decided to spare your lives," Kuma said. For a moment, they thought they were saved. "But on one condition. In exchange for this act of magnanimity, you will bring me the heads of the four witches."

Team JNPR felt their stomach drop at those words.

"If I return with them, that should be enough to satisfy the government," Kuma said. "Now then, hand them over before I change my mind."

"No…" Jaune whispered. HE glared up at the warlord despite death hanging over his head "We will never sell out our friends. Not now, not ever!"

"NEVER!" Team JNPR cried out.

"This was your choice," Kuma said as he sent the small paw shaped bubble at them. "Now suffer the Ursa Shock."

The bubble slowly expanded. Team JNPR braced themselves for the bomb that is about to go off. Even so, they had no regrets. They will never sell out their friends.

But the blast never came.

"THE END!"

Then, the paw bubble disappeared. Before JNPR's eyes, Kuma disappeared as well. The smoke that blocked their view of Team RWBY vanished as well, exposing Blake as she held her scroll in front of her.

"Round three is over," Blake said as she put it away and walked towards them. Behind her, the rest of her team followed. "Are you alright?"

"Alright?" Jaune asked heatedly. "You call nearly killing your friends alright?!"

"Hey! You wanted to go to the Grand Line, this is how it is," Yang retorted with her eyes red. "Over there, you have to expect something stronger than you to come your way. Besides, we knew for a fact that your aura will protect you from the blast."

"You speak from experience?" Nora asked as she felt her stomach from where the paw print was. Ruby began helping her aura recharge.

"Yeah," Yang said as her eyes turned to normal. "The bastard did a number on us in Thriller Bark."

"Besides, you didn't think I would actually blow up the school, did you?" Blake asked, much to the horror of JNPR.

"That blast would've taken out the entire school?!" Jaune cried as Ruby move on to him.

"It affected most of Thriller Bark, which is an island itself," Weiss said. "And according to Ruby, that blast expanded across to the sea. If it happened here, then it would most likely spread to the city. If that were really Kuma instead of the one Blake made, then we would be in big trouble."

"Yeah," Jaune agreed. He looked towards Blake. "So that was your devil fruit power?"

"Yep," Blake nodded. "Whatever I read comes to life. People, plants, animals, anything in literature. I can even bring up people we've encountered as long as I read something about them. The more I grasp of what their character is, the better the illusion of life I can give them. Like Bartholomew Kuma."

"That's pretty awesome I guess," Jaune said. Then he hanged his head. "So, I guess we lost huh."

"Nope," Ruby said with a small pop. Team JNPR looked up at her in surprise. "We didn't agree to fight you just to make sure you don't follow us to the Grand Line. We did it to help you."

"Help us?"

"That's right," Yang nodded. "We wanted to give you an idea of what it's like on the Grand Line. If you can't beat us or Kuma, you won't last long."

"The only reason we made it that far was because of our captain," Weiss said. "Despite how stupid he is, he is our ace when it comes to fighting. So much that we relied too much on him and neglected our share of the burden we were supposed to carry."

"We are part of his crew and we dumped everything on him," Blake added. "Kuma may be our enemy, but he does have a point. Each of us have a responsibility for the crew."

"The moral of all of this is if you want to come with us then get stronger," Ruby said. "When you feel like you have gotten stronger, then come find us. We will gladly welcome you with open arms."

Then she giggled. "At least our captain will be. He's eager to have you guys in his crew after what we told him about you."

"Wait, you told him about us?" Jaune asked. "What did you tell him?"

Team RWBY chuckled. "You'll have to ask him to find out. But after you get stronger. Okay?"

Jaune looked at them for a moment before nodding with a smile. "Alright. We'll wait until we are stronger."

"That's right!" Nora declared. "Just you wait! We'll get strong enough to pound you in the dust, you'll see!"

Pyrrha nodded with a smile as well. "I don't feel like the invincible girl after all of this. So, I have to get stronger now."

"I too," Ren said with a nod. Team RWBY and JNPR smiled at each other with determination.

"Alright then, I'd better run to my bag and get something," Ruby said. "Could you guys hand out the glasses?"

"Sure thing," Yang nodded. Ruby burst into petals and went for her bag. Her teammates took out sunglasses from their pockets and handed some them to JNPR.

"What are these for?" Jaune asked.

"Just put them on," Yang said, putting hers on. "Trust us, you'll thank us later."

"Why?"

"You really think that all of that noise wouldn't attract attention?" Weiss hissed. "We knew that it would happen, so we made sure to prepare for the worst."

"The worst being Goodwitch," Blake said. Her eyes widened as her bow twitched. "And I think I hear her coming this way!"

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked with horror.

"Who else wears high-heels?" Yang hissed. She turned to Ruby, who is still rummaging through her bag. "Ruby! You'd better get that forgetchamacallit out now! She's almost here!"

"I know I just need to—"

The doors of the arena opened with a BANG. All students turn to see an angry Goodwitch standing there. To their fear, she held the Disciplinarian in her hand.

"What is going on here!" Goodwitch demanded. "Why are you all up this late?! And WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THIS PLACE!?"

"RUBY!" Yang, Weiss, and Blake shouted.

"I got it!" Ruby shouted as she took out a small rod. The top of it popped open to reveal a LED. "Sorry Professor!"

Ruby pressed a button and the whole room is enveloped in light. It lasted for a moment before it faded. Team JNPR found Glynda Goodwitch in a daze.

"She's stunned for the moment," Ruby said as she piled stuff back into her back haphazardly. "But it won't last long, we've got to get out of here!"

"What about—" Jaune begin.

"Unless you want to explain all the damage we did to the arena, we've got to go!" Weiss shouted.

* * *

Neopolitan blinked and shook her head.

Where was she? Looking around, she found herself in the arena of Beacon Academy. What she was doing here, she didn't know. The last thing she remembered was Cinder ordering her to trail team RWBY and gather information on them. She followed them and Team JNPR here to the arena and then…

"WHAT IN OUMS NAME HAPPENED TO THE ARENA!"

She can worry about that later. For now, it would be wise to get out of here before she was discovered.

**[~][~]**

**Another chapter is done. Team JNPR has realized the dangers of the Grand Line and vows to become stronger to brave it.**

**I would like to take a moment to say my support for the Black Lives Matter movement. George Floyd didn't deserve what happened to him. We need to be better than the cop who didn't know better. I hope that one day, we can live in a world without racism. Which is why I say this in the words of Charles Xavier.**

**NO MORE.**

**Thank you all for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 7: Song of Independence! RWBY VS. FNKI!**

**[~][~]**

"Hey, did you hear…?"

"Someone wrecked the arena. Can you believe that?"

"Who could have done it?"

"I heard that it's closed for a month due to the extensive damage…"

As the cafeteria buzzed with the topic, teams RWBY and JNPR are sweating bullets as they ate their breakfast. Word had spread about the damage done to the arena earlier this morning. It spread so fast that by the time breakfast rolled around, everyone at the school knows. Word also spread of Glynda Goodwitch interrogating students to find out who had wrecked the arena.

"Lucky you built that Glynda detector," Jaune whispered to Ruby. "How did you come up with it anyway?"

"I developed it when I was helping Franky set up security for our food storage," Ruby whispered back. "Before you ask, let's just say that our captain tends to raid the food whenever he likes."

"What she means is that our captain is a pig," Weiss bluntly corrected. "We would always be out of food before we reach the next island. If it weren't for Franky and Ruby, we would have to tie our captain to the mast every night."

"Speaking of food," Blake interrupted as she pokes her tray for emphasis. "We should probably finish breakfast so our representatives can prepare for their match."

"Oh yeah," Yang said before digging into her food. "We are the second team for the day, aren't we?

The students resumed eating their breakfast, which is mostly composed of eggs and ham. For some reason, they were green. Team RWBY missed Sanji's dishes, but the food is food. Plus, they knew he hated food going to waste. They heard he once beat up a customer back at the restaurant he once worked at because he wasted food.

"So, Jaune began. "Who's going to be fighting?"

"We decided on Yang and Weiss," Blake said. "I and Ruby are going to sit this one out."

"How come?" Nora asked. "With your devil fruit powers, you could easily steamroll the competition."

"We intend on toning down our power," Yang said. She held up a finger at Nora. "Before you say, 'Ruby didn't tone hers down', you have yet to see the havoc she could unleash. We are trying to avoid drawing more attention than we already have. As for steamrolling, that's an overstatement. While we managed to copy some of the techniques of CP9, only one of us is capable of using them at the moment."

"You?" Jaune asked to which Yang nodded. "Why?"

"Because my devil fruit lets me cheat whatever intense training that CP9 went. I can only use some of them at half strength in my human form, but in my man-beast form…you'd better watch out."

Jaune gulped at Yang's predatory growl. "But I figured you all could use them?"

"We said developed, not personal use," Weiss said. "Turns out that we couldn't keep up with that ridiculous training regimen that Yang set up. So, we decided to play to our strengths. Plus, I'm hoping to practice some advice I got from the world's next greatest swordsman."

"Roronoa Zoro?" Pyrrha asked. "What was his advice?"

"He told me that to cut through anything, I have to first learn not to cut through anything."

This was met with silence.

"Right…" Ren said. He turned to Blake. "So why not you and Ruby?"

"Despite what you think about my devil fruit, it does have its limits," Blake said as she grips her head. "I have to read the characters every action to make them move, like in the story. Plus, the more I know about them, the more lifelike they will be. If I manifest two characters at the same time, it will give me a splitting headache micromanaging them…"

Blake continued mumbling about the long complications that her devil fruit brought to her. Her voice became so low that they could barely make it out. JNPR couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. Yang cleared her throat.

"Long story short? Blakes abilities gave her a headache and it's easy if she used books already written. Not the joke kind."

"Aaah," JNPR nodded in understanding. They turned to Ruby.

"For me, I just want to work on personal projects," Ruby said. "Before you ask, no I am not going to tell you. Let's just say that it might revolutionize the huntsmen and our fight against the Grimm."

"That sounds cool," Jaune said. "We've seen your works last night and I know they would be awesome. I bet Atlas would pay good money for those devices."

Rather than feel elated by Jaune's praise, Ruby's face became a frown. Setting her utensils down, she stood up.

"I just remembered, I got something to do," Ruby said. Finally, she walked away from their table, leaving her food unfinished. JNPR looked confused at her abrupt leave while the rest of team RWBY glared at Jaune. Even Yang is giving the blonde boy the evil eye.

"What?"

"Jaune, we've spent a good chunk of our lives being chased by a bunch of jackasses called marines run by even more corrupted jackasses," Yang snarled, bringing the boy to a flinch. "The last thing we need is another bunch of jackasses running around."

Yang slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"I'm going to go see Ruby," Yang said. "I need to pick up my weapons anyway for the match."

With that, she walked away, a little anger in her steps. This left Weiss and Blake alone to glare daggers at Jaune.

"What did I say?" Jaune repeated.

"Jaune, let's just say from experience that between the World Government and Atlas, there's little difference," Weiss said as she angrily chomped on her ham. "Take it from someone who has Jacques Schnee as a father."

"You just need to tip General Ironwood in the right direction," Blake said. "I mean, he has a fleet of ships hovering right over us."

"But it's for the security of the festival," Pyrrha said, trying to defend her leader and General Ironwood somewhat. "With the White Fang running around and after the breach, he just wants us to feel safe."

"Feeling safe isn't the same as being safe," Weiss said with slight distaste. "Besides, he could've just brought some extra soldiers. Nobody asked him to have those ships over our heads. Too much can go wrong."

"Pyrrha, we've been doing some research on General Ironwood," Blake said. "While his record indicates good results, his methods are questionable. For example, did you know that he once obliterated an entire village because of rumors of a 'mood bomb'?"

"What's a mood bomb?" Nora asked.

"To sum it up," Weiss said. "It's when negative emotions flare up and attract the nearby Grimm, causing them to charge towards and destroy the village. Take the panic during the Breach for example."

JNPR paled at that. The Breach happened in the city a while back. The resulting panic drew the attention of Grimm. If it weren't for Ironwood's military, they would've been overwhelmed.

"That's not all," Blake continued. "You should know about when he reacted to a bomb threat in Mantle. He publicly announced it and the panic drew Grimm over. Three Atlesian soldiers died as a result. He said their sacrifice wouldn't be forgotten."

Blake hissed the last part.

"We've got a list if you want to read more," Weiss said as she took out a sheet of paper. With a flick, more pages fell to the ground, taped together at the ends. JNPR's eyes followed the length as it piled up.

"Trust me," Weiss said. "It's a long one."

"Isn't this a violation of privacy?" Ren asked to which Weiss scoffed.

"We're pirates, remember. We don't play by the rules."

Weiss folded up the list and handed it to them.

"Having good intentions and changing your moral compass are two different things," Weiss said with finality. "If you excuse me, I too must get ready for my match."

Weiss left the table, leaving Blake alone with JNPR. Blake silently returned to her meal, leaving JNPR to ruminate among themselves.

* * *

The sparks finally ceased as Ruby disassembled two of her inventions.

She sat in the attic of the school dormitory. After coming back to Beacon, she turned it into her makeshift lab/workshop. Hardly anybody goes u here, so it's perfect to conduct her projects without any disturbance. If one did come over, they are in for a nasty surprise.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Password?" A robotic version of her voice spoke.

"Firecracker," Ruby heard her sister's voice. The door buzzed open and Yang ascended the steps. Her eyes looked around the room.

"Where's the nasty surprise?" Yang asked. "You know, the one you set up in case that wasn't me who said that?"

"You don't want to find out," Ruby said with a mock tone of animosity. She didn't look up from her worktable. "Plus, the door recognizes your voice when you use that password. Even if someone managed to guess it, they will end up getting the nasty surprise."

"Fair point," Yang conceded. She looked over at the disassembled pieces of tech. "So, I take it you dismantled them?"

Ruby sighed in sadness as she scooped the parts into a plastic bin. "Yeah. I'm not happy about it, but I feel it's for the best. I built this so I can make the fight against the Grimm so much easier. While the aura recharge has potential, I don't want it to be abused for some kind of twisted justice or some so-called greater good."

"Don't worry Ruby," Yang assured her with a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure the world will be ready for your inventions one day. All it needs is the right time and the right people. Till then, try to take it slow."

"I know," Ruby smiled. "Thanks, Yang."

"No problem sis," Yang said with a smile of her own. "By the way, did you finish modifying my weapons?"

"Yeah," Ruby nodded. She reached to her left and picked up a box. "Finished it up this morning. I hope you are satisfied with it."

She handed it to Yang and her sister opened it. Inside is Ember Celica, but with a major change. Right where there were fingerless gloves are yellow claws. The tips looked razor-sharp like it could tear a Grimm limb from limb.

"This is great!" Yang grinned. "I'll be able to incorporate this into my new fighting style. What else can it do?"

"For starters, the claws gain an elemental effect depending on the dust you use," Ruby explained. "You can change the type via voice activation, the same can be said for their shotgun configuration. Just make sure you add the appropriate amount of dust beforehand."

"Noted," Yang said as she tried on her new gauntlets. Then, there is another knock on the door and the robotic voice.

"Password?"

"Snowflake," Weiss muttered, and she is buzzed in. She ascended the steps into Ruby's workshop. "You do realize this is technically school property?"

"I don't see anybody complaining about it," Ruby said with a shrug. "I take it you've come to get your weapon?"

"Yeah, "Weiss nodded as she came to the table. "Do you have it?"

"Yep, everything you asked for," Ruby said as she passed over a box containing Myrtenaster. "Though why would you need a—"

"You'll see," Weiss interrupted before opening the box and examining her modified weapon. "So, what can I expect?"

"Nothing much. Just that it consumes less dust than it usually does when you use it with your Glyphs. Other than your request, that's all it has."

"It'll do," Weiss said as she holstered her weapon. She turned to Yang, who has just set her claws on fire. "Come on Yang, let's get to the arena."

"Yang!" Ruby protested when she registered what she is doing. "Don't do that in my lab! You could easily set the entire place on fire!"

"Don't worry Ruby," Yang assured her. "I'm not going to—ARG!"

Yang found herself being sprayed by water. It persisted for several seconds before it stopped. Yang is dripping wet and the fire on Ember Celica has been put out. Ruby held a gun with glowing blue outlines, with the front end of the barrel dripping with water.

"What the heck!" Yang shouted with her eyes red. "You got my hair wet! AGAIN!"

"I'm not taking any chances, Yang!" Ruby argued back with a glare of her own. "You already burned down my lab not once. Not Twice. But almost THREE times! I'm not taking any more chances! You either start your fires at least fifty feet away from my lab or you're getting doused!"

The sisters kept glaring at each other in a silent standoff. With a grumble, Yang pivoted on her heel and stormed out of the laboratory.

"I can't decide if that was better or worse than the fire extinguisher you made back at the Grand Line," Weiss sighed.

"You have to admit, that was pretty funny," Ruby said as she turned to another worktable with bits of machinery. "I'll be watching your match on a live screen. You won't have to worry about giving me the play by play."

"Thank you," Weiss nodded. Her eyes scanned the table. "I hope it works. Whatever it is you are working on."

"I hope so too Weiss," Ruby said as Weiss walks out of the lab. "I hope so too…"

Taking a deep breath, Ruby reached into a bin and pulled out a red dust crystal. She placed it on the table and placed a hand on the bin of machinery. Red sparks flowed before she stopped when she realized something.

"Oh yeah, I should probably tell her!"

* * *

"And victory goes to Penny and Ciel of Atlas!"

Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil stood before the defeated Russel Thrush and Sky Lark. Penny took a moment to place a fist in her palm and bowing in respect, still smiling.

"Thank you for a wonderful time."

The two victors turn to leave the stadium, not noticing Russel reaching out. An errant stone hit him in the head. As they made their way to the exit, something buzzed in Ciel's pocket. Frowning, she pulled out her scroll and looked at the caller id. The number is blocked. She was about to hang up before her phone somehow answered itself.

"Hello! Ciel Soleil I assume? Could you please do me a favor and put Penny on the scroll?"

Penny's eyes widened when she recognizes her friend's voice. Before she could ask, Ciel coldly spoke to her.

"Who is this?" Ciel demanded.

"I'm Ruby Rose," Ruby cheerfully replied. "You may have heard of me from Penny?"

"Ruby Rose. 15. Hails from Patch. Leader of Team RWBY. Status: Questionable leaning towards suspicion."

"Okay, so you have heard of me," Ruby said without a care. "As much as I would like to chat with you, I'd appreciate it if you could put Penny on the line."

"Why would I—?"

"YOU PUT PENNY ON THE SCROLL OR I WILL POST PICTURES OF YOU HUGGING TEDDY BEARS ALL OVER THE CCT!"

A mortified look crossed over Ciel's face. Slowly, she handed Penny her scroll and the robot girl energetically took it and pressed it to her ear.

"Ruby, I am so glad to hear from you!" Penny cheered.

"Same to you Penny!" Ruby said. "I was watching your match. How do you keep control of those swords? I'm dying to know."

Penny looked over to Ciel, who made a motion with her hand for her scroll. "Could we just have a minute to talk?"

Ciel held up one finger, signaling one minute. Then she took a step back. The look of pale shock didn't leave her face.

"Is it Ciel again?" Ruby asked. "Is she your friend?"

"Well, in a way," Penny admitted. "She's like Blake, but if Blake was ordered to spend time with you."

"Oh. So, Weiss," Ruby surmised. "You know, I could just threaten her with the pictures again."

"That's not necessary Ruby," Penny shook her head. She leaned into the scroll and whispered. "I have to tell you something important. I want to stay at Beacon."

Penny could hear her surprise through the scroll. "That's great Penny! If you have a plan, I will gladly help. I have a surprise waiting for you when I'm finished! Trust me, you'll love it!"

"Really?" Penny asked in curiosity. She was about to ask when Ciel cleared her throat.

"It's been precisely one minute, ma'am."

"I'll talk to you more soon, Ruby," Penny said. "Bye."

She hanged up and gave the scroll back to Ciel. As they continued walking out of the stadium, Ciel was moving some pictures to the trash can.

* * *

"Well, now it's our turn!" Yang said as she and Weiss stood in the center of the field with Weiss at her side.

"Just remember to keep proper form," Weiss said.

"Alright," Yang chuckled. "You're from Atlas. What could we expect?"

"Well," Weiss began as Yang begins to loosen up her legs and arms. "Well, seeing as their Kingdom, academy, and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies."

At that moment, a rainbow zoomed past them, taking them by surprise. The rainbow came to a stop opposite of them, revealing a pigtailed Faunus girl with a cattail swishing around her weapon next to a young man wearing a fedora and sunglasses, holding a trumpet in one hand.

Weiss is the first to recover from their open mouth shock. "Or whatever they are."

"Hey!" The young man called out. Flynt Coal, if she is correct. "You Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress."

Weiss bowed her head and smiled at the recognition. "I am."

"I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then?" Flynt asked.

"I do my best," Weiss gave a humble shrug.

"Yeah, my dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own," Flynt nods his head, eyes hidden behind his shades. His smile turned into a scowl, and his tone turned hostile. "Till your father's company ran him out of business."

"Oh," Weiss said, her smile fading. A look of understanding crossing her face. "So that's what this was about…"

"You got that right," Flynt spat.

Yang held a finger. "Dude, you need to—"

"Dude, you need to!" The girl said in unflattering imitation and points at Yang. Neon Katt was her name. "That's what you sound like!"

"Huh?"

"Hey! Where'd you get your hair extensions?"

"This is just my normal hair," Yang said in confusion.

"Ooh, really?"

Yang arched an eyebrow at her. "Yes?"

"You should try rollerblading sometime! It's super fun!" Neon said as she spun in place and continues talking. "It'd probably take you a while, though, since you're so…you know, top-heavy."

Rather than get upset at the insults, Yang and Weiss looked at each other. _Who picked these numbskulls as their opponents?_

* * *

Ruby was watching the entire thing. She shook her head at the insults that the members' team FNKI was giving her teammates. Paying it no heed, she returned to her work. Ruby knew that they are above that.

On the screen in front of her, she heard Professor Port begin the countdown.

She knew that isn't a battle worth fighting about.

* * *

_"What could be taking them so long?" Weiss asked as she and her teammates walked around Mock Town. It is a port town of the island Jaya. Despite looking like a resort, it is inhabited mostly by pirates. Pirates who dwell here tend to judge people's skill and power based on their assigned bounties. The higher they are, the more respected they are by the citizens. They stopped here to find information on Sky Island. Luffy, Zoro, and Nami head off to find information, but they haven't been back yet. They got worried so they left to go find them._

_ "I'm sure they're alright," Yang said. "You are talking about our captain after all."_

_ "I'm more anxious to go," Blake said as she looked at the people around them. She caught some of them looking at the students of beacon. "I'd rather not pick a fight."_

_ "Hey, I think I see Nami," Ruby called out. "She's coming towards us and…"_

_ Ruby stopped talking. Suddenly, she rushed forwards, petals of her semblance trailing after her. The other three looked at each other and rushed after her._

_ "Ruby, what's wrong?" Yang asked as she finally stopped. Yang looked at Nami. "Nami, what's—what the hell happened to them?"_

_ The huntresses-in-training looked in open mouth shock at what Nami is dragging behind her. In her hands are Zoro and Luffy, all bloodied up and bruised. They didn't appear to be moving._

_ "Luffy! Zoro!" Ruby cried as she knelt beside them. "What happened to you?"_

_ "I'll tell you what happened," Nami growled as she dropped them. "Some jerk named Bellamy attempted to pick a fight with us. When they refused, he attacked them anyway. What's more, these idiots didn't even try to fight back."_

_ "What?!" Yang shouted, her eyes turning red. "Where are those guys? I'll beat them into a pulp."_

_ "Yang…" Everyone looked down at Luffy, still lying face down. "Don't bother trying to fight them."_

_ "What?!"_

_ "Yang I am ordering you as your captain to not fight them," Luffy said sternly._

_ "But they—"_

_ "Yang, your captain has spoken," Zoro said in a tone of steel. "You will not fight those guys. Period."_

_ "Easy for you to say," Nami snapped. "You guys got beaten half to death and we didn't learn anything about Sky island. Heck, it might not even exist."_

_ "The sky island does exist."_

_ Everyone turned to see a large man sitting cross-legged in front of them. He has a massive build with relatively thin limbs. He has a big mouth with several missing teeth, a crooked nose, and a very large and hairy chest and torso. Long, thick, woolly black hair falls down the back of his neck, underneath a black bandana, and a small scruffy black beard grows around his jawline. He wore an open buttoned white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, green trousers with black line patterns, a yellow sash around his waist, and black boots complete with bronze buckles._

_ The man was eating a cherry pie. After a few smacks, the man laughed._

_ "Zehahahaha! That place does make a good cherry pie!"_

_ "Got something you want to say?" Nami asked angrily._

_ "Now what could you possibly be angry about?" The man asked them. "Your two friends won that fight without even throwing a punch."_

_ "Huh?" That took the Strawhats by surprise._

_ "What do you mean?" Weiss asked. "These two just let some brutes beat them up! How did they win?"_

_ Rather than answer her, he addressed Nami. "I respected the way you treated them back there. You got nerves of steel lady. Zehahahaha!"_

_ At that moment, Zoro and Luffy finally got back up. Rather than behave like being injured, the two men patted themselves down without a problem. Even Luffy simply puts his straw hat back on._

_ "This new era they keep rambling on and on about is a load of crap," The man continued. Then he spread his arms to the sky, a bottle of rum in one hand. "The era when pirates dream of treasure will come to an end? Yeah right! ZEHAHAHAHAHA!"_

_ This drew the attention of a few onlookers. One of them asked what he was talking about. The man then slammed his bottle of rum onto the wooden ground._

_ "THE DREAM OF PIRATES…WILL NEVER END!" The man shouted. "Am I right?"_

_ "For somebody shouting as loud as you are, you sure are talking nonsense."_

_ "What are you talking about dreaming for?"_

_ "One up in your beers isn't easy! ZEHAHAHAHA!"_

_ Everybody was laughing except for the Straw hats._

"_They can laugh at us all they want. Because when you aim high, you often come across fights that just aren't worth fighting. Right? ZEHAHAHAHAHA!"_

"_Let's go," Zoro said and he began walking away._

"_Yeah," Nami said. She was about to walk away when she noticed Luffy not following. "Luffy."_

"_Hello. It looks like I interrupted you," The man said as he packed up his cherry pies in a bag and stood up. "Are you in a hurry kid?"_

_He turned away and right before he brought the bottle to his lips, he said. "One more thing. I hope you find your way to sky island."_

_As he walked away, laughing, team RWBY couldn't help but ruminate on his words._

* * *

In the arena, the field is divided into four sections. A volcanic area, sandy desert, steaming geysers, and ruined buildings.

"Three! Two! One! Begin!"

Right as it starts, Flynt raises his trumpet to his lips and blows, issuing forth a soundwave towards Weiss and Yang. They just stood there as the soundwave hits them, sending them flying into one of the buildings of the ruined city arena. They did nothing when they crashed into the walls of the ruined building. Dust kicked up, obscuring them from the view of the spectators. For a moment, everyone was silent.

"Huh…" Flynt commented. "That was easy."

Then, out of the dust, came Yang and Weiss. They are patting themselves down as they approached the center stage again. Deep inside her mind, she was glad that the dust blocked the spectators from seeing her breaking into a million glass pieces.

She wasn't sure if she cared about being seen like that or not.

They came to a stop. Right where they were previously. Once again, they stood there not moving. They didn't even bother to draw their weapons.

"Never miss a beat. Never miss a beat. Never miss a beat," Neon Katt said as she skated forward, twirling her glowing nunchaku. It glowed blue as she slammed one end into Yang's arm, encasing it in ice. She twirled it around and brought it on Weiss's arm. The girls still didn't even move a muscle as Neon went back to her previous position. The crowds earlier cheer had died down as if wondering why the girls aren't moving a muscle.

"What's the matter, chicken?" Neon asked. Weiss and Yang still didn't answer. "Cat got your tongue?"

Yang snorted a little at that. She flexed her arm, breaking it out of the ice. "Nope, we were just wondering if you two are done with your little temper tantrum."

"What?" Flynt asked in anger.

"Still not done yet, I see," Weiss sighed as she melted the ice with fire dust. "We'll break it down to you so you could understand. But first…"

Weiss looked at Yang, who nodded. Weiss held of Myrtenaster and spoke out a word.

"Rock."

_"Rock."_ A female robotic voice spoke from Myrtenaster. The orange vial on Myrtenasters barrel glowed orange. With a glyph glowing underneath, her, she thrust Myrtenaster down through it. Around the two teams of FNKI, walls of earth erupted around them, trapping them within. The walls are too high to try climbing out. Well, for Flynn as Neon still wore her skates.

"There," Weiss said as she lowered her weapon. "That should keep you there for a while. Please stay there and keep quiet."

"You think this will hold us?" Flynt asked. "Once we get out of here—"

"You'll what? Fight us?" Yang asked. "Trust me, the last thing we would want to do is fight you guys. It would leave a bad taste in our mouth if we do. Not to mention it would disgrace us."

"However, these people came here today for a match," Weiss said. "It would be discourteous if we didn't put on a show for them. But it certainly won't be us fighting you two buffoons."

"What did you say?" Flynt demanded, but Weiss threw up another wall of rock, blocking them. For good measure, she threw up the second wall of rocks around the first one. She turned to Yang.

"Let's show them what this festival is supposed to be about," Weiss said. "And that poser of a musician."

"So, where do we start?" Yang asked. Weiss placed a finger to her chin and scanned the arena. She looked up to the sky.

"I'll set the stage," Weiss said. "Can you signal the others?"

* * *

Ruby was finished with ninety percent of her project when she heard the commentary on the screen.

"Miss Schnee has trapped Flynt and Neon, but rather than finish them, she's building something," Doctor Oobleck said over the intercom. "It appears that Miss Xiao Long is writing something on the wall! What could she be talking about?

"What are they doing for that matter?" Professor Port asked.

Ruby looked up from her work and looked at the screen. Weiss appeared to be using some rock dust to construct a platform with support beams. Judging by how the designs, Ruby had a sneaking suspicion that some glass is infused with the dust. However, what caught her attention was Yang. Burning on a wall of the ruined city is a message she knew is directed at her.

_SHOWTIME!_

Without wasting a moment, she grabbed her scroll and called Blake.

"Hey Blake, you are seeing this?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, I'm already at the arena," Blake said. "You ready to do your part?"

"I'm already jacking into the system," Ruby said as she displayed the schematics of the colosseum on her scroll. "Connecting Myrtenaster wirelessly to it. You ready to play?"

"I've already got a stage crew and camera crew making preparations," Blake said. Ruby could practically hear her grin. "I have to admit. Doing something like this has helped me materialize more people without making my headache."

"That's what happens when you exercise your brain," Ruby said as she readied her instrument. "Okay, we should be good to go in…"

* * *

"I'm not understanding what they are doing," Doctor Oobleck said as Yang and Weiss continued making the stage. "If they wanted to stop fighting all they had to do was- "

He didn't say much else as the intercom suddenly went dead. On the stage, Weiss checked Myrtenaster, now in microphone configuration. This was the configuration she had Ruby installed.

"This is in honor of you Brook," Weiss whispered as Yang propelled herself onto the stage.

"Everything's all set," Yang said as she clapped her hands. "Those two buffoons are all seated where we want them to be. All we need to do is wait for Ruby."

"No need," Weiss pointed upward as the ceiling of the colosseum began to darken. Ruby has activated the shades and is blocking out the sun. The crowd was speaking in hushed whispers. Weiss tapped her microphone and coughed.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Weiss spoke. "Please remain calm. In a few seconds, you will see that there is nothing to worry about."

As soon as she finished saying that, the spotlights from above activated and focused on her and the stage. Weiss grinned. Ruby has finished the preparations. She waved Myrtenaster, and several small glyphs appeared on the stage.

"Come forth Sound Warriors!"

Rising out from are several white mechanics anthropomorphized music equipment. Two of them are stereo speakers that set themselves in the back.

A drum with arms walked in front of Yang and sat itself down. It's two arms handed the blonde girl drumstick which she took eagerly. She sat on a stool made of rock. The other music beings held instruments that correspond to the type that they are and gave Weiss a thumbs up.

Weiss grinned back. It was because of these guys that she wanted to extend her time during summons. She met them once on an island where she sang for real for the first time. After defeating them, she felt a bond between them and her formed.

Now she is about to make her Remnant debut.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Weiss spoke out again, giving Ruby time to connect the Sound Warriors time to connect them. "As a student at Beacon Academy, allow me to thank you all for coming!"

When the Sound Warriors gave her the thumbs up again, she began.

"_~Let's fly to the sky! ~"_ Weiss sang as she carried out the last part. The Sound Warriors began playing their music. The speakers blasted it across the arena to the audience. Whatever the speakers didn't reach, the intercom that Ruby hijacked carried it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Yang called out to a microphone Sound Warrior in front of her. "Welcome aboard RWBY airlines!"

"_~There's not a single cloud in the sky! ~"_

"This is your host Yang and Weiss speaking!" Yang said. "We'll be taking off shortly!"

_"~Let's fly to the sky! There's not a single cloud in the sky! ~"_ Weiss continued singing, joy in her words as she thought of her crew. _"~Let's fly to the sky, catch the perfect breeze for you! ~"_

She let it rest for a moment before the upbeat part began.

_"~Let's fly to the sky! (It's time to fly around) Catch the perfect breeze for you. ~"_ Weiss sang as the arena exploded into color. Above her, fireworks exploded. The crowd is watching with awe, some of them began to cheer her.

_~Paint the sky with (Let's go to the wonder world) imagination that no one's ever seen! ~_

_ ~OH! OH! Even if it's too dazzling (Come on) ~_

_~OH! OH! Under the sun! ~_

_ ~ OH! OH! If it's you, you can make it! Throw away your pride and FLY!~_

~ every day is plain! Real talent makes the world go round ~  
~ Deceit won't work anymore. Mayday, the red light is stopping you too ~

~ Lend me an ear! And I'm gonna stick on my RAP! Wussup! ~  
~ "From tomorrow on I'll get serious!"- seriously cut it out with excuses like that~  
~ Increase your money with your dream! Time is money like NASDAQ! when will you do it boy? It's now or never man! This is the moment, right?~

~Everybody put ya hands in the air and clap ya hands like this like that  
clap ya hands everybody! Everybody just clap ya hands!~

Weiss brought her hands to a clap. Soon, the audience is joining in on the clapping. Weiss could feel the joy in the air as she repeated the chorus.

**(At this point, I feel like I will get in trouble for further lyrics. So, if you guys want to listen to the song, be sure to look up Departure by Back-On. One last thing. Disclaimer: I don't own the song whatsoever. It rightfully goes to its rightful owner. That includes the small scene during the song. Anyway, we skip to Weiss finishing the song…)**

Weiss threw her head back in a dramatic fashion as the crowd cheered. An assortment of happy emotions is in the air. She could even hear some requests for more.

"Looks like we outdid ourselves, Weiss!" Yang called wiping a brow of sweat off.

"That we did," Weiss said as she handed Myrtenaster to a Sound Warrior and walks to the center of the stage. She raised a hand and formed a glyph. Descending from the ceiling on a glass platform is Neon and Flynt. Earlier, she had them moved above the stage so she could have them watch the show. She gestured to the cheering crowd.

"Get the point now?" Weiss asked.

"That you outclass me in singing," Flynt groused. "Yeah."

"Not that! You ass," Weiss snapped, much to his surprise. "This is a festival. This is meant to be a celebration of unity and peace between the kingdoms. Instead, you used it as an excuse to get back at what my father did your father's business."

Flynt opened his mouth to shout but Weiss turned away. "If you want to make him pay so bad, then go over to the Schnee Family Manor and kick his ass."

Flynt's throat died on his lips. "What?"

"As I said. March straight over there and kick his ass," Weiss said as she turned back around. "I'll even give you directions to the place. He's big enough to wipe his bottom, so why should I fight his battles?"

"But he's the CEO of the greatest Dust company," Flynt argued. "He'll have my ass easily! Not to mention he's your father!"

"So what?" Weiss asked, drawing strength from words that she heard her captain say to the tyrant Wapol. "It doesn't matter if he's my father OR my mother. It doesn't matter if he's a king, or even if he's a god! It doesn't matter if he's someone who's great or someone who is not so great! You can still kick his lousy butt, and I will gladly do it myself if I have to!"

Weiss declaration seemed to take Flynt by surprise. Weiss became sad. "Your family isn't the only one suffering, Flynt. Not just other people, he made his own family suffer too. I got this…" Weiss pointed to the scar on her eye. "From him. All because I wanted to go to Beacon. Believe me when I say that I want to be rid of him as much as you do."

Weiss took a deep breath.

"But right now, this is a festival. The people need to feel the joy this event is supposed to bring. So, will you help me with that Flynt? As a fellow musician?"

Weiss reached out a hand to him, her gaze is one of determination. Flynt looked at her hand for a moment. Then he took it and shook it.

"That was a good number you did back there," Flynt admitted with a smile. He held up his trumpet. "Mind if I join in on the next one?"

"Gladly," Weiss said with a big smile. "Don't worry about the lyrics, they will get to you. Come on, the crowds waiting for us!"

Weiss and Flynt ran to the front of the stage. The Sound Warriors moved aside to make room for Flynt. Weiss took Mytenaster back from the Sound Warrior.

"Hey!" Neon shouted. "Did you forget about me?!"

"Oh yeah," Weiss's eyes widened in realization. "One last thing…"

She raised Myrtenaster and formed a glyph at the top of the stage. Out of the glyph rose a block of glass. Weiss turned Myrtenaster into rapier mode, formed some platform glyphs, and leaped on them. When she got to the top, she slashed at the block several times. When she finally returned to the stage, Yang gasped.

"Weiss, I take it back. YOU outdid yourself this time."

On top of the stage, in precise detail, stood their crew. Straw hat Luffy holding the Jolly Roger of their crew while the rest stood with him. One could swear the flag is flapping in the wind.

**[~][~]**

** Another chapter is done, hope you enjoyed it. I would like to take this moment to thank PENCILCEPTION THE ULTIMATE for helping me with this fic. Thank you all for reading this. **

** I figured that I would have Weiss tap into her singing aspects. But yeah, getting into a pointless fight would be degrading for them. So they showed them that it doesn't have to be that way. As for What Ruby is working on, I'm going to keep it under wraps until the reveal. Feel free to guess what it is though.**

** Once again, thank you all for reading and keep the faith that we will survive.**


	9. Chapter 9

**The New Era of Remnant**

**Chapter 8: Secret Plots! The Witches of Destruction!**

**[~][~]**

Cinder wanted to scream and tear her hair out at the same time.

To scream so loud that it would attract the biggest horde of Grimm to demolish Beacon Academy as planned. Yet it seems unlikely with the positive atmosphere that infected the place.

All because of Team RWBY.

Thanks to their little concert, everyone is being optimistic and worse singing! When the opposing students of Team FNKI joined in, it increased tenfold. Their joy and awe spread so much that even the professors overseeing the match joined in. It wasn't until Oobleck called it off that it ended. Cinder silently thanked the man as she was plotting about how to kill them. But the damage had been done. Thanks to them, everyone is singing like songbirds.

"~Gather up all of the crew~" Mercury sang as they sat inside their dorm room. "~It's time to ship out Bink's Brew. Sea wind blows to where who knows? The waves will be our guide. ~"

"Merc," Emerald snapped, jerking her head towards their master. Cinder's golden eyes glared at the silver-haired man. He gave a sheepish smile and shrugged.

"What? It's a catchy song. I even set it as my ringtone."

Mercury gulped when Cinder's right eye flared up.

"Alright, I get it. I'll remove the ringtone."

"Good," Cinder growled as the flame died out. "With that said, I believe a change in plans is in order due to this unforeseen…setback."

"I agree," Emerald groaned. "Ozpin has personally asked the heiress to host another concert. I hear that everyone at the colosseum has asked for it, even signed a petition. Would you like us to sabotage it?"

"Not a bad idea," Cinder admitted. "But it's going to take more than a staged accident to compensate for the plan. We need something bigger."

"You're telling me," Mercury said as he frowned. "I swear, I thought those girls wouldn't be a problem. Now…what the heck happened? Wasn't Neo supposed to find out?"

"She was," Cinder answered with a frown. "After Emerald told me about their odd behavior, I sent her to spy on their meeting with Team JNPR."

"That's the team with the invincible girl, right?"

"Yes, and when she came back…" Cinder grimaced. "She forgot what she was supposed to be doing."

"Come again?" Mercury asked as he straightens up. Neopolitan had a record for getting the job done. With her semblance and combat skills, she is a force to be reckoned with. This was new.

"You heard me," Cinder repeated curtly. She hated repeating herself. "Neo somehow forgot what she was doing last night. She came to the room without any memory of me giving her that mission. Something must have happened."

"Likely Team RWBY," Emerald surmised. She remembered how the Schnee heiress had stopped her attempt to pickpocket Ruby Rose. It was the first time that she got caught and felt humiliated.

"Don't worry my dear," Cinder said upon seeing the look on her face. "We'll deal with them after we get our plan back on track. I've sent Neo to spy on them again. Hopefully, she remembers what to do this time."

Cinder began searching through her scroll as she said this. Thanks to the virus she planted in the CCT tower during the dance, she can access Ironwood's scroll. She stopped at something that made her smile maliciously.

"I think I have it."

* * *

"~, After all, is said and done, you'll end up a skeleton. So spread your tale from dawn to dusk upon these foamy seas~"

"Yo ho ho ho, yo ho ho ho!" Team RWBY and JNPR sang as they clinked their super-sized mugs of Pumpkin Pete's soda. They had just gotten back from Amity Colosseum and are celebrating their advancement into the finals of the tournament.

"That has got to be the best song I've ever sung," Jaune said as he took a swig from his mug. "Not to mention the greatest concert."

"It should be," Weiss insisted. "The greatest musician in the world taught me that music has the power to make even a crying child smile. I've been my father's singing canary from as long as I can remember. So why not sing of my own volition for a change?"

"You got that right," Yang said as she chugged her drink much to the heiress disgust. "And we wrecked the schedule to boot! This is going down in the books!"

"I'm surprised that the other team forfeited the match," Ren said. "When Oobleck threatened to disqualify both teams, I'd expected a draw."

"Which begs the question," Pyrrha said. "Why didn't you guys lift a finger against them?"

The girls of Team RWBY looked at each other for a moment. It was Blake who answered.

"Let's just say that you'll come across some battles that aren't worth fighting."

"Anyway," Ruby chirped. "Now that we are in the finals, we need to decide on who is going. I'm volunteering Yang."

"The most obvious choice," Weiss said. As stated, she can't risk exposing her Glass-Glass fruit powers. "I vote for Yang as well."

"Likewise," Blake simply said.

"Hell yes!" Yang pumped her fist. She stared at JNPR with a predatory smirk. "Now which one of you am I going to sink my claws into?"

Team JNPR gulped. Yang may not mean to use her devil fruit power, but they clearly remember the beating they took last night.

"I volunteer," Pyrrha raised her hand. "Last night proved to be a challenge. I expect you to give me another as well."

"I'll be sure to live up to your expectations," Yang smirked. "You're about to feel the full fury of one of the Witches of Destruction."

"Witches of Destruction…?" Pyrrha muttered. Something in her memory clicked. "Say, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Last night, Kuma said that those witches have left nothing but destruction in their wake. I assume that it refers to you?"

"Exacta Mundo," Yang nodded. "Every great pirate in the Grand Line gets a wanted poster, bounty, and even a cool nickname. For pirates like us, It's like a badge of honor."

"Easy for you to say," Weiss muttered. "I still detest the fact that they call us witches."

"OOOH!" Nora grinned madly. "I want one! But how did you end up being called witches?"

"I'm interested myself," Jaune said.

Team RWBY gave an amused chuckle.

"Funny story…" Ruby began. "You see it all started back at Enies Lobby. Otherwise known as the Judicial Island. We managed to rescue our friend Robin from CP9's clutches. The problem is that the…the…"

"Buster call," Weiss corrected. "Robin explained it to us. The director of CP9 activated a military action to prevent us from escaping with Robin. By accident, if I may add. Regardless, after receiving the signal, five vice admirals and a fleet of ten ships nearest to the location of the caller are scrambled to that island."

"Their purpose is to destroy anything from a criminal to an entire island," Blake muttered angrily. "Once the call has been sent, it cannot be rescinded."

"What's worse is that the call is indiscriminate," Yang growled. "They don't take innocents or human lives into consideration. They will destroy anyone they deem to be a threat. All for the betterment of the world."

JNPR began to like the World Government and Marines less. No…they are outright disgusted by them.

"We're getting off track," Ruby waved. "Anyway, our crewmates are drained from their fight with the CP9 agents. Before you ask, we were going after Robin while they get the keys to her handcuffs. It was right there where I had the BRILLIANT plan to lighten the load."

"What is it?" Jaune asked, deeply into this.

"We decided to take out their ships," Weiss said. "Most of their forces weren't on land so we decided to take out their forces…

* * *

"_Open fire!"_

_A marine commander shouted as they open fire on the Bridge of Hesitation._

"_Those pirates cannot escape with Nico Robin," The Commander shouted. "Keep firing!"_

_Just then, a breeze blew by them, followed by a rose petal._

"_What was that?" The commander muttered. He looked around for the source of the petals. He failed to find it._

"_Something wrong sir?" One of his men asked._

"_Nothing," The commander said, deciding to dismiss the thought for a moment. "Focus on—"_

_Then it happened again. Another breeze followed by the rose petals. His eyes followed the trail and found a girl standing atop the turret. His men seemed to notice this and turned their attention to her._

"_A girl?"_

"_She's just a kid!"_

"_Hey! I drink milk!" Ruby shouted. She planted both her hands onto the metal exterior of the turret. "I just need to borrow this. OVERHAUL!"_

_Red sparks flowed from her fingers and enveloped the turret. With the screeching of metal, the turret began to disassemble. The barrels rearranged themselves until they are in a triangular pattern. Ruby entered an opening of the turret and it closed. From beneath her cloak, a brown satchel opened up and parts flew out. The sparks continued until it vanished. At first, nothing happened._

"_What was that just—"_

_Then, the ground began to rumble, and the wood splintered upward as the turret lifted itself with spider-like legs. The legs appeared to be made of the same iron as the cannons. At the front are two prongs shaped like a spider's fangs._

"_When all you have is a magnet, every metal object is like a needle," Ruby commented as she operated the controls of her spider-tank. "Gentlemen. I give you the first-ever Rose Series: Spider-Tank!"_

_The triple barrels rotated as Ruby aimed them at the deck of the ship. Ruby pulled a secondary lever._

"_RAPID-FIRE!"_

_Re-configured cannonballs flew out of the barrels. Striking at a certain point and concentrating on it. The cannonballs splintered the deck and continued to the hull. Eventually, the sea stone cracked, and water began to flood in._

"_One down ten to go!" Ruby shouted as the Spider-Tank crouched down and launched up into the air. It soared in the direction of another ship._

_On another ship, Weiss Schnee is standing before a horde of Marines, rapier in hand. The Marines have aimed their flintlock rifles at her. Despite this, Weiss didn't show an ounce of being intimidated by them._

"_Who the hell is she?"_

"_She must be one of those Pirates!"_

"_Open fire!"_

"_Brain Grid Glass Battle Technique," Weiss whispered as a glyph is formed beneath her. Beneath the Marines, a group of glyphs formed beneath them. This took the Marines by surprise and they hesitated. "Tausend Grashalme!"_

_She thrust the blade of her rapier into the glyph. From each of the Glyphs, a blade made of glass jutted out of them. They struck the marines and sent them flying. It took all of Weiss' will to not cut them into pieces. With the field clear, she raised her rapier and created a glyph in front of her. She raised her free hand towards it and touched it._

"_Mirror Mirror."_

_From where her hand touched, another reached out from the other side of the glyph. Stepping onto the deck of the ship is a duplicate of Weiss Schnee. However, this one looked to be made out of pure glass, down to the smallest detail. In its hand, it held a glass rapier.  
"I leave this to you," Weiss said to the duplicate. It nodded as Weiss walks to the edge of the ship. The glass duplicate created its glyph, this one with swords pointing outwards. Thrusting its sword into it, with a flash of light, an Arma Gigas appeared in front of her. This one is made out of the glass as well._

_The duplicate nodded at the summon and pointed down. The Arma Gigas raised its sword in a reverse grip and began to break the ship._

_On ANOTHER ship, a nightmare is being played._

"_Run!" A marine shouted as he and two of his fellows ran within the interior of their ship. Their faces are pale with horror._

"_It's gaining upon us!"_

"_We just have to make it outside!" Marine number three shouted. "Once we get outside, we can alert the vice-admiral AGH!"_

_Something caught number three by the leg and pulled him into the darkness. Number two panicked._

"_He got him!" Number two rambled with increasing terror. "He got him! He got him! He got him!"_

"_Calm down!" Number one shouted, but there was panic beneath all that bravado. "Keep running! There's nothing we could do!"_

"_Nothing we could do?!" Number two shouted back as he ran forward. "You're right about one thing…WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"_

"_Don't run ahead you idiot! Stay with me!"_

_Number two's response is a scream as something knocked him down. He clawed at the floor as something dragged him into the darkness of the ship. The same darkness where the thing that took his comrades lurked._

"_Dammit!" Number one shouted as he turned right. He had to get away from this nightmare and alert the vice admirals. He raced up the steps to where the sunlight is glaring through the hatch._

"_Finally!" Number one felt hope rise in him as he raced up the steps, hand-stretched towards freedom…_

…_until something grabbed his ankle and caused him to trip. Dread replaced hope as he looks over his shoulder in terror. Gripping his ankle is his friend, Marine Number two. Number two's head slowly looked up. Staring back at him are black eyes with red irises. He spoke in a monotone mixed with malice._

"_Ding Dong. Looks like I have won now, you're it," Number two sang. "Ding Dong. Pay the consequence."_

_Number one screamed as he was dragged back into the darkness of the marine ship. Outside, Blake leaned against the railing, listening to the screaming. In her hands is an open book titled 'Spooky Spaghetti Tales'._

"_I may have overdone it a bit," Blake muttered as she closed the book. "THE END."_

_The screams inside the ship stopped as she walks away. She looked at the book with a questioning glance._

"_Then again, this is a horror novel," Blake muttered. Then she shrugged. "Oh well. On to the next one."_

_Once more, on ANOTHER ship, an all-out brawl is taking place._

"_COME AT ME!" Yang shouted with glee as she pummeled marines left and right. Behind her are marines she already was beaten, bumps rising from their heads. Marines charged at her with their cutlasses, but a grave mistake as Yang pummeled them with her fists. Those lucky enough to get a blow on her ended up hitting her aura. Marine marksmen fired upon her and had the same result. Yang grabbed the nearest Marine and threw them at the marksman, knocking them over like bowling pins. _

_Yang swept her gaze at the Marines keeping their distance. She gave them a friendly smile._

"_Come on! Is this the best you could do? I was just getting warmed up!"_

"_So, it's a fight you want?" A marine that looked to be a captain stepped forward. He is missing an arm and he held a giant great sword in his hand. He glared fiercely at her. "Then I'll give it to you!"_

_Yang grinned. "That's more like it!"_

"_Such impudence!" He shouted and swung his sword. An arc of windswept out and flew towards Yang. Yang briefly widened her eyes before she was struck by the wind head-on. She flew across the deck and hit the front turret of the ship. As Yang slid down, her aura briefly flickered. Yang looked down at the spot she was struck and back at the captain. The marines began taunting her._

"_HA! That's what you get!"_

"_As expected of our captain!"_

"_Eliminating her will be easy!"_

_To the surprise of the marines, she still smiled._

"_So that was your best?" Yang asked as she stood back up. She cracked her neck as she took a few steps forward. "In that case, I'd better return the…favor…?"_

_Falling in front of her are several strands of her hair. Yang looked at it in horror before her eyes turned red._

"_YOU BASTARD!" Yang roars as she shifted into her beast form, startling the Marines with her devil fruit and anger. Then, she slammed her fists together._

"_BURN!"_

_Her hair ignited as her semblance activated. A wave of heat blasted from her and toward the marines. They felt it, but they weren't harmed by it. Yang, her hair a mane of fire that spread throughout the body of her man-beast form. Crouching down, she launched herself at the captain with the combined strength of her bear muscles and newly improvised burst technique. Yang raised a burning fist as the marine captain raised his sword to block._

"_METEOR BASH!"_

_Yang's fist made contact with the Marine Captains' sword. The impact of her punch cracked the blade. The fist continued to the chest of the marine captain and sent him flying into the cabin of the ship. The wood became splinters as the marine captain flew out the other side and overboard. Yang glowered at the remaining marines_

"_WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!"_

"Wow," Nora breathed. "So, you get to beat up lots of marines?"

"Yep," Yang nodded. "Before you ask, no we didn't fight any of the vice admirals. We may be part of a badass crew, but we aren't stupid."

"Except for our captain," Weiss muttered.

"Agreed," Blake replied. "Anyway, our purpose was to lighten the load while our crewmates recovered. And our efforts worked. A little too well though…"

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"Okay," Ruby said. "You know how we have semblances and aura? And the marines don't?"

"Yeah?"

"When they saw us use them, they assumed that they are our devil fruit," Ruby continued. "But when they saw us use our actual devil fruit powers, they scrubbed that off."

"Why?"

"Turns out that if you eat another devil fruit, you die," Blake said, much to their abject horror. "And by die, I mean that your body will blow up."

"WHAT?!" Nora exclaimed as she jumped off the bed. "That is so unfair!"

"If that weren't the case, there would only be one devil fruit user," Weiss snapped. "Anyway, they knew right away that our semblances and aura couldn't be a devil fruit. Which only led to one conclusion…"

"What?"

"_A WITCH!"_

_Several minutes later, Team RWBY is surrounded by every marine in the buster call fleet. The moment someone shouted the word, the marines pulled out pitchforks and torches. The huntresses-in-training had no idea where they got those from and why they think it would be effective against them. But one thing clear is that they have every marine's attention, including the vice admirals._

_This led to a chase onto the crow's nest of one of the Marine ships._

"_Can't touch us up here suckers!" Yang taunted from the crow's nest to the surrounding marines._

"_Get down here so we can kill you and your friends! You witch!" A marine holding a torch shouted._

"_Oh, that's genius!" Weiss shouted angrily. "Why don't you tell us that you plan to kill us when we come down there!"_

"_She's right let's not be harsh," A vice-admiral with a long beard said, placing a hand on the marine's shoulder. To Weiss. "Weiss Schnee. Please come down so that we may kill you."_

"_THAT'S THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE!"_

"Wait," Jaune interrupted. "How did he know your name?"

"Marine intelligence," Weiss said. "Now stop interrupting!"

_Blake sighed at the exchange._

"_Nami gave me the signal," Ruby said as she peered through a spyglass. "Let's get out of here!"_

"_Way ahead of you," Blake said as she pulled out her book again. Ruby's eyes widened at the title._

"_Isn't that a…"_

"_You can lecture me about it later," Blake muttered as she opened it. Weiss and Yang finally turned from their tirade with the marines to see what Ruby is worried about._

"_Blake," Weiss said warily. "We told you that you were banned from that genre!"_

"_Desperate times call for desperate measures," Blake said. "Now then, a thousand years ago, a ship—"_

"STOP STOP STOP!" Ruby cried as she waved her hands.

"Yeah, I think we will stop here," Weiss said while she shot a glare at Blake, who responded in kind.

"Aww…but I want to hear what abomination that you summoned!" Nora protested. "Was it an evil god? A poltergeist? A tentacled monster that drove anyone insane when you look at it?"

"We don't want to talk about it," Yang said, looking a little pale from the memory. "Anyway, after the stunt we pulled and the Marines superstition, we got branded as Witches. Weiss hates it though."

"It's so offensive!" Weiss argued. "How dare they insinuate that I'm an ugly and unpleasant woman! In all my life, I've never been more…"

"So, there you have it," Yang said with pride as Weiss continued to rant. "The Marines have declared us the Witches of Destruction! You're looking at the Witch of War with a bounty of thirty million!"

"That's cool," Jaune said, remembering that bounties are like a badge of honor to pirates. He remembered something from last night. "So why did you say your bounty is the lowest?"

Yang groaned. "My bounty is the lowest of the witches! They mistakenly made Chopper worth only fifty. Don't assume that the bounty determines your strength because Chopper can pack a punch than the average man."

"With what you told us about him, we have no doubt," Pyrrha said. She turned to the rest of team RWBY. "What about your bounties?"

Weiss immediately snapped out of her rant. Her anger became pride as she told her bounty and epitaph.

"The Marines saw fit to call me the Witch of Conquest," Weiss boasted. "With a bounty of seventy million!"

"That's cool," Said.

"I'm worth ninety million," Blake said. "The Marines call me the Witch of Horror."

"No surprise there," Weiss whispered. Blake shot a glare at her, to which Weiss scoffed. "Come on, what did you think was going to happen when all you do with your powers is bring horror novels to life?"

"I can do more than bring horror novels to life!"

"Because you chose now to write a book! All because it makes your head hurt to make one!"

"ENOUGH!" Yang shouted, eyes red. The black and white duo flinched and looked at her. Even JNPR jumped at her voice. "We already discussed this back on the Sunny! No point in bringing it up now! Let's just get to Ruby's turn!"

Weiss and Blake grunted their apologies and turned to Ruby. Their leader seemed to squirm in her seat from the attention. She may have spent what looked to be months of fighting marines, pirates, Grimm, and others, but she still gets nervous being on the center of attention.

"The Marines gave me a bounty of one hundred million," Ruby spoke quietly.

"ONE HUNDRED MILLION?" JNPR exclaimed. Ruby nodded.

"That's super cool!" Nora exclaimed. "So, you're a bigshot now?"

"Yeah…" Ruby muttered.

"Something wrong with your bounty?" Jaune asked. Yang shook her head.

"It's not the bounty," Yang clarified. "It's what they chose to call her she has a problem with."

JNPR turned back to Ruby, who is cradling her head with her hands.

"What did they choose to call you?" Ren asked, politely as possible. Ruby looked up in mortification.

"The Witch of Death."

"The Witch of Death?" Pyrrha asked. It sounded too morbid for the silver-eyed girl. The bright-eyed girl that she knew from the beginning of the year is called an incarnation of death. "Why did they call you that?"

"I don't know!" Ruby said in exasperation. She palmed her head as she kept rambling. "I don't know if it was my cloak or my improvised scythe? How did I end up being called the Grim Reaper?!"

"I read this from a book once," Blake whispered. "I think the Marines believe her technology makes her death, the destroyer of worlds. Because of this, the bounty is tripled if she's brought in alive."

"Really? Wouldn't that make it…" Jaune ran mental math. "Three hundred million?"

"Yep," Weiss nodded. "That also applies to us. Tripled if we are brought alive and doubled if we are dead. We assume that they want us because they want to find out where the rest of the 'witches' are."

"What do they have against witches?" Pyrrha asked in confusion.

"We don't know," Yang shrugged. "Superstition, I guess? They called the top rookies that made it to Sabaody Archipelago the worst generation."

"The Worst Generation?" Jaune asked. "Who are they?"

"Well…" Before Yang could continue, Pyrrha's scroll buzzed. Frowning, Pyrrha picked it up and opened a message. The frown became confused before she puts it away.

"What was that?" Jaune asked.

"It's Professor Ozpin," Pyrrha said. "He wants to see me in his office. Immediately."

"What for?" Nora asks in concern. Pyrrha was the least likely to get into trouble.

"I don't know," Pyrrha said as she got up. "But I better not keep him waiting. I'll see you guys back in our room. We need to get ready for the finals."

"Right," Yang nodded as Pyrrha exited the room. She turned to the still mumbling Ruby. "So Ruby, how's your project?"

That seemed to snap her out of it as Ruby bolted upright with a smile.

"It's a huge success!" Ruby said with glee. "It worked out better than I hoped! I can't wait to show Penny!"

"Does that mean I can finally tell them now?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow. Ruby puffed her cheeks.

"Of course not!" Ruby said. She turned to everyone else. "I will introduce you all to what I've been working on later. For now, I better go check on them to make sure they didn't blow up the attic while I was gone."

At that moment, a boom shook the building. The huntsman-and-huntresses-in-training struggled to maintain their footing. They look up to the ceiling. Ruby looked frozen at what just happened.

"What was that?!"

"Gotta go!"

Ruby bolted out the door and down the hallway. What she didn't see was the cracking of glass in the opposite of the hallway. A girl with hair splits between brown and pink stood there. She held a Scroll in her hand, pressing the record button to stop recording.

Neopolitan had heard everything. This time, she recorded it.

**[~][~]**

**Another chapter is done. Sorry for the delay, but I've been dealing with personal stuff and the COVID-19 to boot. Please don't expect a regular posting to this fic. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. **

**I'm pretty sure that you know the song and dance canon to Volume 3, the most tragic of the RWBY series. Keep the faith that we will survive. Plus, I'm sure you are dying to know what our resident tech-head is working on. Don't take my word for it, you can find out next time on the New Era of Remnant.**

**Stayed tuned for more.**


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